The Wisdom of Lions

<-- That's Sherman, my adorable Lion 

Sunday night was one of our last nights together as a floor. Shannon, Alaina, Katherine, Nhat, a few others, and I spent the evening in Shannon and Nermina's room watching movies on their lovely television. Elf was playing. I love that movie. Who wouldn't want to be called a cotton-headed-ninny-muggins? Prince Caspian aired next. Although the movie is a bit cheesy and could definitely be better, it has some absolutely fantastic lines from Aslan, the great lion. C.S. Lewis was a genius for sure. A few certain lines stuck out to me in particular.

One point of interest in the movie is Lucy's virtually unwavering faith in Aslan. She sees him at one point and cries out to her companions, who have not seen him. They don't believe her, and I believe it is Peter who asks her, “Why wouldn't I have seen him?” She plainly replies: “Maybe you weren't looking.” What wisdom she speaks! I find myself constantly doing this with God. I ask myself, ask others, ask Him, WHY can't I see him? Why can't I decipher what He's doing, why isn't my life clear, why can't I understand everything and see His perfect plan in everything? Maybe I'm just not looking clearly enough. Maybe I'm spending all my time looking for my own version of an answer, unwilling to see the truth. Maybe I don't want to accept it, maybe I'm too stuck in my own sinful ways. Regardless, He's there...I'm just not looking.

Or maybe sometimes I cry, like a character in the movie, “I wish he'd given some kind of proof!” and the only response can be, “Maybe we're the ones who need to prove ourselves to him.” Oh the truth in those words! I'm always asking God why, trying to test Him, question His reasoning and omnipotence. No, no, no! God never has to prove Himself. We can't run about searching for the proof of God. It's all around us! Look at the sky, the stars, the sunrise, or sunset. His glory, the proof of Him, surrounds us, great and mighty. It is us who must prove ourself to Him. We are fallen people. We fail and sin and lie and cheat and fail and fail and fail. God still loves us, though, despite our desertion, abandonment, and betrayal. But He never has to give us proof of His glory and power. We are to follow Him, because He knows best, and all His plans are perfect, even if we can't, or won't, understand the reasons.

I believe the following quote to be the best from the movie: “The others wouldn't believe me!” Lucy cries. Aslan lovingly rebukes, “And why did that stop you from coming to me?” Oh how that pierces my heart with an arrow of truth! So shamefully often I am the bearer of this excuse. I don't pray in public, for people might think I was foolish or crazy. I don't cry my praises to the heavens, for fear someone might hear. It reminds me of a Fall Our Boy song, “I wanna sing 'I love you' from the top of my lungs/But I'm afraid that someone else might hear me.” What...how...but...wait...what? Yeah. Pretty much. Why on earth would that stop you from singing your love for someone for all the world to hear? If you love someone you want the world to know it. Sing it from the rooftops, shout it on the streets. It's like my photo, A Shout Not A Whisper, love shouldn't be hidden beneath roofs or kept in the deep crevasses of the heart. It should be painted on walls, tattooed on arms, sung from corners, it should be seaping out of every aspect of your being. My love for Jesus should never be hidden. I should never fear that someone won't believe me. It doesn't matter! Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Light. He is all that matters, the only true bit of importance. This world does not matter. The opinions of man should not phase me. This world will pass away, but Heaven will last forever. My faith should not be dependent on what others think of me, or what they do to me, or say about me. “Why did that stop you from coming to me?” It never should. It does, far too often, but it never should. So I don't just “want to scream 'I love you' from the top of my lungs,” I will sing “I LOVE YOU!” from the top of my lungs, because I DO want the world to hear me.