Recent Adventures & A Case For Narnia

written by Michelle Prillaman

I wanted to spend a little bit of this post sharing about a recent adventure, (and personal triumph), of running the Cooper River Bridge 10k run last weekend in Charleston. I admit- I had not looked forward to this event over the course of this year. Running is not my favorite… to say the least. However, I was blown away at how enjoyable this event was! There were 25 bands along the six mile stretch. 40,000 people ran and walked in unison. It was fun and exciting, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! If you ever get the chance to go run, do it!

I wanted to devote the rest of my blog entry to a research project I completed last semester for one of our classes, which I think has tied in beautifully to some thoughts that I have had . I completed a project on C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series. I researched the book series, C.S. Lewis’s life as he wrote it, and looked at the Christ allegory found in the books- especially in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, (which, ironically, I am watching the movie of as I write!).

In the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the White Witch oppresses the Narnians with a hundred year period of winter onto Narnia. Narnia sits in waiting for the fulfillment of the prophecy- that Aslan would rise once again and that he, alongside of four children, would bring Narnia to deliverance.

I have thought lately of what it looks like to wait well for deliverance. This world can be hard. Everywhere I turn it seems that I hear or see brokenness, pain, injustice. So often in this world, people are waiting to deliverance. Recently we have been praying and researching Rwanda, where we will be heading in a little over four weeks. It has been hard, at times, to hear the history, and to see the brokenness and to not weep- both for what was lost, and for the potential of what could have been done.

Lord, thank you that you are present in the waiting. Thank you that you are in control- no matter how it seems. Thank you that somehow, in someway, this world is working to your glory, though often times I cannot see it. Lord, your people wait for deliverance. Show us how to glorify you. Give us your strength as our own fails. We trust in your deliverance, and in your mercy. As we wait, let us be compelled by your love. Let your light pour from us; use us to bring your hope into this darkness.