Tag Archives: Chronicles of Narnia

A Larger Reality

June 25, 2025 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Ephesians 2:1-2 (NIV)

A few years ago I had the joy of visiting the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College in Illinois which contains C.S. Lewis’ archives. Along with his letters and writings, I had a chance to see and touch both his desk and his wardrobe. For a fan of The Chronicles of Narnia it was a real treat.

Here in our home we have an enduring love of, and appreciation for, classic epic children’s fantasy stories like The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and A Wrinkle in Time. As I’ve pondered these classic stories, it has struck me that there is a common theme. Children in this world discover that there is another world, a larger reality that most people know nothing about. As readers we are drawn into these larger worlds through a wardrobe or Platform 9 3/4 and we blissfully lose ourselves within them. They resonate deeply within us.

For C.S. Lewis, at least, the creation of Narnia was simply a reflection of a spiritual reality he discovered when he himself became a believer:

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

To be a disciple of Jesus is to believe that there is a much larger Story being told outside the feedback system of our physical senses and human intellect. Jesus continually taught of God’s Kingdom, told His followers to seek that Kingdom, to store up treasures in that Kingdom, and understand that there is an eternal reality that is greater than we realize or can humanly comprehend. In fact, if we have faith to believe it, that reality is more real than this earthly reality in which we live each day. Those who have had Near Death Experiences (NDEs) and have had a taste of that reality often say that it’s really this physical world that is a mere shadow of the ultimate realities of God’s eternal Kingdom.

In Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus, I find that he is attempting to pull back on the lens of their understanding to see the much larger spiritual realities of the Great Story in which they find themselves. The Story begins in Genesis when humanity finds itself stuck in a conflict of good and evil. Jesus ministry begins with a confrontation between himself and evil one. Jesus earthly life ends acknowledging that His death is a part of this larger Kingdom conflict. The Story ends in Revelation in a final confrontation between Jesus and the evil one who gathers all of the kingdoms of this world against Him. The Story begins and ends in a reality that exists outside of our present earthly realities.

Paul tells the believers in Ephesus that they are part of a much larger Story than they ever realized. It’s a Story in which Paul and his ancestors have played a major part through history while the Gentile (e.g. non-Jewish) Ephesian believers have been largely clueless. Through Jesus, Paul explains, they need to understand that they’ve entered into this larger Story that God has been authoring from the beginning. They are part of it now, and they need to understand the larger spiritual realities they’ve entered.

Just like Lucy hiding in an old wardrobe and suddenly finding herself standing by a lamppost in the snow.

In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded that this day, every day, there is more going on in the spiritual realm of God’s Kingdom than I can possibly, humanly know. This doesn’t make the mundane tasks of my to-do list meaningless. It makes them holy. The seemingly banal tasks of my everyday life become a liturgy of the ordinary that are part of a higher purpose. It’s what Paul was saying to the followers of Jesus in Colossae who were enslaved. Every day they were serving an expansively larger Kingdom amidst their limited earthly realities.

And so, I enter another day of this earthly journey doing the mundane tasks on my to-do list. The liturgy of the ordinary in God’s Kingdom work on earth.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

A collage featuring podcast platform icons alongside a portrait of Tom Vander Well, with the title "Wayfarer" displayed prominently. — These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

Best of ’24: #7 The Gospel According to Harry Potter

February 6, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

For two weeks, while Wendy and I are away enjoying some warm weather, I’ll be counting down the top ten chapter-a-day posts of 2024 (based on total views and plays). It’ s always interesting which posts resonated with readers and listeners. The chapter for tomorrow’s post will be listed at the bottom.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

Our daughters were the perfect age to get in on the original Harry Potter craze. Taylor turned nine the year that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone hit number one on the New York Times Bestsellers List. She was roughly the same age as Harry, Ron, and Hermoine as the subsequent books were annually published. She and Madison literally grew up with these characters.

In yesterday’s post/podcast, I wrote about religious rulekeepers. Religious rule-keepers, by the way, are often reactionaries. They are quick to condemn at a distant whiff of impropriety. When the Harry Potter craze took off, they got themselves into a lather. I have learned along my life journey that when the Christian rule-keepers get into a lather, I should definitely check out what they’re upset about because I’ll probably love whatever it is they hate. This was certainly true with the Harry Potter books.

(Side note and personal critique that you can skip if you wish: As popular as the Harry Potter films were, they are a poor representation of the books. This is because they started making the films before the series of books was finished. So the first several movies were handicapped by not knowing how the entire series ended and by not realizing how some of the subtle things Rowling planted in the early books would grow into a huge part of the plot in the end. If you only know Harry Potter from the films, be sure to read or listen to the books. The audiobooks read by Jim Dale are excellent. -TJVW)

I have always held that all great stories are a reflection of the Great Story, and I found this to be true with Harry Potter. It is an epic story of good and evil set in an entertaining fantasy world just like The Chronicles of Narnia (which has witches, by the way) and Lord of the Rings (which has wizards, by the way) and A Midsummer’s Night Dream (which, by the way, has a talking donkey just like the Bible).

In today’s chapter, Paul writes of the supremacy of Christ’s love. When a person is baptized into Jesus and joined with Christ’s Spirit, they are filled with and surrounded by Love. Once this happens, Paul writes, “There is no more condemnation.” Not only that, but we can’t be separated from that Love by anything. As Paul described it to Jesus’ followers in Corinth: “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

In Harry Potter, it was the sacrificial love of his mother, who gave her life to protect her baby from evil that made Harry special. The wise sage Dumbledore forever tries to help Harry understand that it is the power of love that will ultimately defeat evil, though Harry simply can’t see it until it proves true in the end. What a beautiful story that illustrates the very Love that Paul is talking about in today’s chapter. A sacrificial Love that indwells, protects, perseveres, and conquers the darkness. A Love from which I can never be separated, even by darkness or demons.

In the quiet this morning, I found myself meditating on the fact that we so often discount the power of Love in a world where power is demonstrated by wealth, status, authority, influence, leverage, and force. Just like Harry, who dismisses Dumbledore’s assurance of love’s conquering power, it’s easy for me to feel that love seems to pale in comparison. Perhaps one could argue that it does pale in terms of this world’s perspective. As C.S. Lewis famously concluded, however, I was not made for this world. I was made for a Kingdom that is not of this world in which Love reigns supreme.

As a follower of Jesus, I am told that while I may not have been made for this world, I am in this world for a purpose. That purpose is to represent that eternal Kingdom in this fallen world, by loving others, even my enemies and those who have been deceived by evil. By the way, this is exactly how Dumbledore loved Draco by sacrificing himself to protect the young man from doing an evil thing that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Tomorrow’s Chapter: Mark 3

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

The Gospel According to Harry Potter

July 17, 2024 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Prophecy in Story and Life

April 13, 2015 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. Ezekiel 34:23 (NIV)

In recent weeks my heart and mind have been mulling over this idea of good stories being reflections of the Great Story that God is telling from Genesis to Revelation. And so, perhaps it’s no surprise that this morning I was thinking about all of the stories that contain the theme of prophecies:

In the Lord of the Rings:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

In the Chronicles of Narnia:

Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.

In Harry Potter:

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies […] “

In The Matrix, The Prophecy was a prediction made by the Oracle and, as told to Neo by Morpheus, states the coming of The One and that it will herald the destruction of the Matrix and the freedom of humanity from their oppression by the Machines. Once The One enters the Source, he will have the power to destroy the Matrix.

These are just a few top of mind examples, but if you think about it for a few minutes you begin to realize that the theme of prophecy and oracles is found in stories from Disney fairy tales to Shakespeare.

One of the important things about reading the books of the Old Testament is to gain an appreciation for how the person, life and work of Jesus prophetically fits into the context of the whole story that God is telling. Ezekiel’s messages were written over 500 years before the events of Jesus’ earthly life, and yet they are an important prophetic link.

As Ezekiel writes his prophetic word picture of God’s flock in today’s chapter “the sheep” have already begun to be scattered. Assyria had assailed the northern tribes and taken them into exile in Persia. Babylon had already laid siege to the southern tribes and many, like Ezekiel himself, had been scattered to Babylon and surrounding areas. Ezekiel’s metaphor of a scattered flock would have deeply resonated with his compatriots.

Into this word picture comes a prophetic word through Ezekiel of one shepherd from David’s line who will be raised up to gather the flock. Then you fast forward 500 years to Jesus who was born a descendant of David (remember the Christmas story when they return to “the City of David” for Caesar’s census?). As Jesus is at the height of His teaching, the question everyone was asking him was: Who are you?

To those who knew Ezekiel’s prophetic oracle, Jesus speaks clearly:

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Today, I am thankful for good stories. I’m thankful for prophecy both in stories and in life. I’m thankful for the Great Story that is being told and lived. I’m thankful for my place in it.