The Big Picture

First, let me apologize for my long absence here. While life is good, as I love to say, it is also crammed with things other than writing and such like. But no excuses. On to the main course!

To celebrate my return to blogland (and to sate the curiosity of those stumped by the riddle posted today on www.xanga.com/jared_katie), I present the big picture. This is the face of Aslan. He is my favorite fictional figure by far because of the deep and intentional Christ-ness he embodies.

This is the Big Picture in its full setting on our wall.

Inscription on the back: "Christmas 2007; Given to Jared & Katie; By Jared & Katie; Received March 4, 2008"

Allow this face to seep into your soul, the simple, direct, profound, challenging face of Jesus, represented by a fictional lion. I hope this inspires your depths as much as it does mine.

Ok, maybe the 'More to come...' can wait. This story (among other things) is burning in my soul tonight and it needs to get out of my finger-ends. It's a small picture of the way my story is unfolding, that's starting to be unearthed by the Voice.

And being very tired and having nothing inside him, he felt so sorry for himself that the tears rolled down his cheeks...It was pitch dark and he could see nothing. And the Thing (or Person) was going so quietly that he could hardly hear any footfalls. What he could hear was breathing. His invisible companion seemed to breathe on a very large scale...

At last he could bear it no longer. “Who are you?” he said, scarcely above a whisper.

“One who has waited long for you to speak,’ said the Thing. Its voice was not loud, but very large and deep...

“Oh, please—please do go away. What harm have I ever done you? Oh, I am the unluckiest person in the whole world!” Once more he felt the warm breath of the Thing on his hand and face. “There,” it said, “that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows.” Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.

“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice. “Don’t you think it was bad luck for me to meet so many lions?” said Shasta. “There was only one lion,” said the Voice. “What on earth do you mean? I’ve just told you there were at least two the first night, and…” “There was only one; but he was swift of foot.” “How do you know?”

“I was the lion.”

And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. “I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.”

“Then it was you who wounded Aravis?”

“It was I.”

“But what for?”

“Child,” said the Voice, “I am telling you your story, not hers.”
(C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy)

This is to sate those post-a-lots who hassle for updates…and to provoke those dour souls who cynicize life...and to engage the rest of us. :) I love the title, by the way. It describes my day today…Surprised by Joy!

Selections from Surprised by Joy, by C.S. Lewis

“The surest way of spoiling a pleasure [is] to start examining your satisfaction.”

“The universe rings true wherever you fairly test it.”

“The very nature of Joy makes nonsense of our common distinction between having and wanting.”

“Really, a young Atheist cannot guard his faith too carefully. Dangers lie in wait for him on every side.”

Whoa…two months since an update this time! “Please not another soliloquy on your life, man!” Ok. I'll just say I'm still overwhelmed at the grace of God (I never want to get over that) and am living a wild ride!

I started thinking about the work of Jesus’ life—before and after his death—this past Sunday. To me, it’s some of the most powerful imagery in the world. “Death works in me so Life can work in you.” Along with that thought, here's a provocative quote I got from a friend recently:

“People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives...and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.”  —Nate Saint

Hope you're enjoying life as you seek to make a great difference for eternity!

This is the last entry I’ll write before heading north. There haven’t been any posts for three weeks because things have been beyond crazy, especially this past week. No time for details, but the basic deal is the Lord’s mobilizing me again to go to war. I’m moving back to Chicago to work at the headquarters of the ministry I’ve worked for from home for the past three years.

Everything’s getting shut down today so my new little army green ’01 Cavalier (the war horse—another amazing story in itself :) can get packed and ready for the adventure to come early Monday morning. If you think of it, please pray that I’d learn how to wield the mighty weapons of God against his enemies.

In war, there are only two options: victory or defeat. God has provided all we need to win, and I want to win with everything in me. The only problem is, well...me. I’m my own worst enemy. Check out Romans 7:18-25 and 1 John 2:15-17 if you don’t believe me. Oh, and when you pray for me, include yourself. You’re your own worst enemy, too. :) I know this goes totally against the human grain, but the truth is if we can defeat ourselves, then we can win for God. Thoughts to ponder as I waste more time than I should have on this thing. Oh, well...it was good to think this out the ends of my fingers. :)

Hope you're having a great day!