Restore Rebuild Revive - Week Five : 23 Feb 2011

Dawn Treader -“It is quite beautiful…for make believe map of a make-believe world.” “There is the source of your trouble-dark island. A place where evil lurks. It can take any form. It can make your darkest dreams come true. It seeks to corrupt all goodness, to steal the light from this world.” “How do we stop it?” “You must break its spell.”

 Third in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader begins with Lucy and Edmond and their obnoxious cousin Eustice, returning to Narnia. Narnia is a place where animals talk, where good battles evil. Each book features as its heroes children from our world who are magically transported to Narnia, where they are called upon by the lion Aslan to help Narnia and restore the throne to the rightful line. This particular adventure is a bit of a break from the Lion the Witch and Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. The previous two centered on battles against evil tyrants, “Voyage” offers a greater view of the Narian world by sailing further than any man, woman or mouse has sailed. It is also the darkest. Lewis explores the broader nature of evil with themes of greed-power, beauty, money. This scene explores both the source of evil as well as how to break its power.

 Reminds me of where we are in our journey through Neh. Neh and the Israelites, in their return to God have had to battle over and over against evil tyrants as they are being restored as a people. And now as people being rebuilt, about to finish the rebuilding of the wall, the historical account gets a bit darker. Like the pull of Lewis’ Dark Island that seeks to corrupts all that is good, we see evil lurking to do the same. It takes many forms in its attempt to make darkest dreams come true.

 But we also see what it takes to break the spell, to resist the evil seductions of both the secular and spiritual world.