The memories of reading each night to my beautiful daughter and having her fall asleep in my arms made this a part of my day I looked forward to with great joy. There was also the added benefit of knowing she would drift off to sleep with vibrant images of Narnia in her dreams. Also, these books conveyed such deep truths on a simple level. I know some Christians attach an almost canon-like quality to these books but that's not how I look at C.S. Lewis creation. What I draw from these books is a wonderful description of the age to come, as well as the age that is. C.S. Lewis painted word pictures that make Heaven seem real, exciting and welcoming, and I thought that if he could convey those feelings with an human imagination than how much more was our Creator dreaming up for our future home! This scripture became even more of a foundation for my faith because of these books, " . . . no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived - the things God has prepared for those who love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9
I welcome the chance in the future to thank C.S. Lewis in person for inspiring my imagination to run beyond my sight but also for writing Aslan in a way that opened my heart to experience more of my Creator. Who can read the climatic scene of Aslan sacrificing himself for the life of Edmund and not glimpse a picture of our Lord and Savior willingly giving up His life for our sins? (from the book, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe")
So without further ado, here are some quotes from C.S. Lewis about Narnia:
“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!” ― The Last Battle
“It isn't Narnia, you know," sobbed Lucy. "It's you. We shan't meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?"
"But you shall meet me, dear one," said Aslan."Are -are you there too, Sir?" said Edmund."I am," said Aslan. "But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.” ― The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
“I thought I saw how stories of this kind could steal past a certain inhibition which had paralysed much of my own religion in childhood. Why did one find it so hard to feel as one was told one ought to feel about God or the sufferings of Christ? I thought the chief reason was that one was told one ought to. An obligation to feel can freeze feelings. And reverence itself did harm. The whole subject was associated with lowered voices; almost as if it were something medical. But supposing that by casting all these things into an imaginary world, stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday School associations, one could make them for the first time appear in their real potency? Could one not thus steal past those watchful dragons? I thought one could.” ―
― The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
“One always feel better when one has made up one's mind.” - The Last Battle
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are." - The Magician's Nephew
"The Lion all began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood. This picture had been in my mind since I was about sixteen. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself: 'Let's try to make a story about it." ―
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