Making it all count

In C. S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia” Aslan the Lion takes Lucy, Edmund, Peter and everyone to the New Narnia—we might call it “heaven” or the New Creation. It’s a place of astonishing light and beauty; a place where every blade of grass seems to mean more and where every creature sings for the sheer joy of the Creator. It is a place where everything is just so real in depth and color that the mere sight of a daisy takes your breath away and makes you weep for the sheer beauty of the thing.

But there, in the midst of all that beauty, they see a group of dwarfs huddled together—convinced that they are living in the rank stench of a barn. Lucy—upset that they aren’t enjoying the New Narnia—begs Aslan to help them, and he tells her, “I will show you what I can and cannot do.”

Aslan shakes his golden mane and a sumptuous banquet appears. But when the dwarfs dive in, they start gagging and complaining. “Doesn’t this beat all,” they lament. “Not only are we in this stinking stable but now we’ve got to eat hay and dried cow dung as well!”

The dwarves, Aslan goes on to say, had chosen suspicion instead of trust and love. They were prisoners of their own minds. They could not see Aslan’s gift of the New Narnia for they would not see it. Aslan can but leave them alone to the hell of their own devising.

Living now, in a time of economic crisis and uncertainty, it’s easy to feel anxious—a lot like those dwarfs. It happens to people, it happens to congregations and presbyteries, too. The temptation is to hunker down and hold on tightly to what we have. But now, I think, is a good time to remember and claim God’s promise of abundant life by opening ourselves up even more to the glorious bounty that is all around and to choose trust and love. It’s also a good time to see that everything we do really counts. Give to One Great Hour of Sharing and other Presbyterian mission; spend your money on fair trade items that are beautiful and help the communities that make them.

Remember your treasure isn’t in your IRA or your building. Spend your precious time building relationships—with God, with God’s creation, and with yourselves. And enjoy the abundance!