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Last Sunday in the midst of his sermon, Nick paused to ask who had ever read the Chronicles of Narnia. I confess, while I've read some of Lewis's nonfiction, I haven't read these classics. Nonetheless, I've been thinking about them recently, not because of the trailer for The Magician's Nephew that was just released, but rather because I'm currently working on an interview with an author whose first book is a picture book biography of C.S. Lewis. It's a real delight and I expect the interview will land next week alongside the book's release.
Reading this picture book and prepping the interview means I've learned some of the history behind these stories, and the ways in which they are rooted in C.S. Lewis's deep love of children. Sheltering evacuee children during the Second World War, he put his lifelong love of storytelling to work providing comfort to them. And, when the books came out and enchanted children around the world, he recruited his brother to help him respond to every letter a child sent him.
In Godly Play, we say that story is one of the native languages of childhood, and I imagine most of us have a relationship with one story or another that has been a source of comfort and escape in the face of difficulty. This week, I want to invite us all into that corner of our lives: where has story lifted you up before? How can you turn to it now, and how can you share it?
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