I’ve been reminded lately that I love books. I love them because they are a chance to create a world that is better, a world that is different. I love reading a book and going on an adventure. I love watching the heroine change the world and be changed by the journey. I love books.
The world is broken. If that’s not apparent to you, you are either very young or very lucky. The world is broken, but in creating great books, we get to paint the truth about the broken world and the truth about the hope for the broken world. That is the very best Christian art. The very best Christian books aren’t necessarily the most overt. They’re the ones that are true, deeply.
My son is concerned by the fact that the Pevensie children are sent away from their parents because of a war. That world is disturbing to him. I love that. That innocence is precious. But, what’s almost as good is that the fantastic parts of the story are a reflection of the hope for that broken world where parents have to send their kids away. It was undoubtedly easy, in the midst of London during World War II, to perceive that the world system is one big cosmic war.
Lewis does a stupendous job of illustrating that, in a deeply true, fictional way. It’s accessible to my son. He gets that. The bad guys are bad. The good guys are good. The battles are real, but they’re not. So, that art, those stories, help my son to understand, to grab a hold, of hard and beautiful things about the world we live in.
The battle is real. The people are in grave danger. The King, the Emperor, is saving the day. It’s already / not yet. It’s hope, but it’s sure.
I love books.