...of Fruit Trees, Puddleglum and a Donkey

When my beloved and I were about to get married we were given a most precious gift by another young couple. The gift has promoted communication, and spending time together. It has deepened our understanding of God, and of the world around us.  When our children came along, we used that same gift to build relationship with them too. It wasn't quite as effective with them, but that was more about my impatience, not the gift nor the children.

The gift was the full set of Narnia books by +C.S. Lewis .  C.S. Lewis was a gifted thinker and author in the mid-Twentieth Century, who converted to Christianity as a young man. The Narnia books are a series of seven stories written for children. Set in the fantasy land of Narnia, the stories recounted moments when people from our world entered that world, at the behest of Aslan - a great and mysterious lion.

We read them together, one chapter at a time, almost every night for a year. We loved the characters, the stories, and the magical way 'Narnia' cut to the very heart of key truths about Jesus Christ. We learned so much about each other, and about God. And when our children came along, we sought to share that experience with them as well. It may seem strange to a generation raised on amazing graphics and internet-based gaming, but the shared experience of imagination was a powerful bonding time. There was the fighting mouse; the giants of the North; a number of children from earth; an evil witch; and of course, Aslan. And mixed in were knights, kings, horses, and talking animals of all kinds.

Those nights huddled in or on a bed, with the rain falling outside, with my children (or wife!) asking for 'just one more chapter' remain some of my most precious memories. When people ask me how to build a relationship with their spouse, or their children, I always start by offering them 'Narnia'. "Just read them", I say. "And don't worry if older children tell you it is too baby-ish for them:  make reading a chapter a required event straight after dinner (which, by the way, should also be a complusory family gathering time). Let the Emperor work His deep magic in your lives. You'll be surprised at the life-long benefits you will gain from such a simple family ritual."

I know I have been. Even today, I can't walk past the well-worn gift box in which 'Narnia' sits, without recalling nights as a family straining to see, hear and touch that Lion, that Witch, that Wardrobe.