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Grand Rapids Press
November 23, 2005
Dear Editor,
Have you been to Narnia? If not, I would strongly recommend that you to do so. This fascinating land will not disappoint you. I have been there myself. As a matter of fact I visit Narnia almost everyday.
Some of you might argue that Narnia is not a real place. The fact that Narnia is an imaginary country does not make it unreal, or untrue. Yes, we need reality and reason to find truth. But without imagination we cannot find meaning.
Some may say that Narnia is a story for children. I would respond with a quote by the author of the Narnia Chronicles (CS Lewis): "No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally worth reading at the age of fifty. The only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all." The boy "does not despise real woods because he has read of enchanted woods: the reading makes all real woods a little more enchanted." The child reading the fairy tale is delighted simply in desiring, while the child reading a "realistic" story may establish the success of its hero as a standard for himself and, when he cannot have the same success, may suffer bitter disappointment.
Some might even fear imagination and think it as inevitably evil. They forget that they can't believe something they cannot first imagine to be true. In the last thirty years we have been detached from the natural environment by the blessings of technological developments. We have come to think of the world as an aggregation of physical objects put together by some complex logic. Survival of the fittest, not functional and harmonious forms have shaped our worldview. As a consequence we have difficulty believing in anything that is not practical or visible. In the process we have become very inconsistent. We accept virtual reality, but have a hard time with real imagination. We have grown to embrace the practical, artificial world more readily than the natural one.
That is when God's gift of imagination is critical. We need good imaginative stories to give us insight and meaning. That’s when visiting Narnia may help rekindle and restore our humanity and promise of eternity. In the Chronicles, the children are taught to act with courage, honesty, responsibility and moral values. Corruption, expediency and dishonesty are not tolerated. Love, gentleness, peace, goodness and faith are valued. The Narnian stories give us a greater understanding of our fallen nature, and at the same time give us hope. With the arrival of Aslan (the magnificent Lion) the beauty of the land is restored and all possibilities expanded. And Aslan is not a distortion but a powerful symbol of the Lion of Judah, and which can help us past inhibitions which paralyzed some of our early religious experiences.
The Chronicles are not just good stories, nor are they primarily religious, Christian allegories. They are much more than that. They serve to enhance moral education and build character, independent of our age.
For those who are fearful of the impact of some violence (I would not recommend the movie for children under five) one should remember that since children will meet cruel enemies in real life, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Lewis said: “Let there be wicked kings and beheadings, battles and dungeons, giants and dragons, and let villains be soundly killed at the end of the book.” He continued, “Nothing will persuade me that this causes an ordinary child any kind or degree of fear beyond what it wants, and needs, to feel. For in the fairy tales, side by side with the terrible figures, we find the immemorial comforters and protectors, the radiant ones; and the terrible figures are not merely terrible, but sublime. It would be nice if no little boy in bed, hearing, or thinking he hears, a sound, were ever at all frightened. But if he is going to be frightened, I think it better that he should think of giants and dragons than merely of burglars. And I think St George, or any bright champion in armor, is a better comfort than the idea of the police.”
This coming week is a good time to visit Narnia or many of the other wonderful places created by the healthy, whole and clear imagination of CS Lewis. On December 9, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe will hit the big screen and, I am hoping Disney will honor this inspiring and enchanted world of Narnia and transport you, not to an artificial or virtual reality, but to a true, sound imaginary land. See you there.
Yours truly,
Paulo F. Ribeiro, PhD