Further Up and Further In

If you have not as of yet read The Chronicles of Narnia you are a literary idiot and I feel sorry for you (okay, you aren't an idiot, but you are very silly). I just finished them tonight and feel...I don't know...triumphant is the first word that came to my mind. Yes, triumphant. I feel like I have won a great contest, however vicariously, through the characters in the story. I feel like I know Aslan (which I do, but in our world he is called by a different name). I wanted to share an excerpt from The Last Battle. But, before I do that, I want to preface it with a thought or two.

One day I'm going to die, and, for that matter, so are you. I don't really fear my death, though I certainly don't look forward to it either. Frankly, as long as I don't drown or burn to death I don't care how I go. Something not painful would be great if I can make my opinion known on the matter. I'm not sure if God reads blogs, but, in the off-chance that He does, I'm throwing my two cents in on the matter. This is all to say that I have realized tonight what the first words out of my mouth will be, moments, nanoseconds, after crossing over out of the "shadowlands" (to coin Lewis' phrase). Originally it comes from the mouth of Jewel the Unicorn (not the folk singer), but I have full intention upon stealing it at my death.

I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Come further up, come further in!

Anyone else echo those sentiments?

shalom, matt