The Magician's Nephew

In his novel, "The Magician's Nephew," C.S. Lewis describes, in stunning detail, the creation of the incredible mythical land of Narnia-- sung into existence by Aslan the Lion. Among the witnesses to the event was a character known as Uncle Andrew.

Though Uncle Andrew witnessed the entire creation, he still refused to see it for what it was. Lewis' narrative is brilliant:

"When the Lion had first begun singing, long ago when it was still quite dark, Uncle Andrew had realized that the noise was a song. And he had disliked the song very much. It made him think and feel things he did not want to think and feel. Then, when the sun rose and he saw that the singer was a lion ('only a lion,' as he said to himself) he tried his hardest to make himself believe that it wasn't singing and never had been singing-- only roaring as any lion might in a zoo in our own world. 'Of course it can't really have been singing,' he thought, 'I must have imagined it. I've been letting my nerves get out of order. Who ever heard of a lion singing?' And the longer and more beautifully the Lion sang, the harder Uncle Andrew tried to make himself believe that he could hear nothing but roaring. Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed."

A perceptive sentence, that last one. It describes those of us who, though we see creation all around us, refuse to admit there's a Creator. Some even try as hard as they can to make themselves believe there isn't, with devastating results. As Lewis says:

"Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. Uncle Andrew did. He soon did hear nothing but roaring in Aslan's song. Soon he couldn't have heard anything else even if he had wanted to. And when at last the Lion spoke and said, 'Narnia awake,' he didn't hear any words: he only heard a snarl. And when the Beasts spoke in answer, he only heard barkings, growlings, bayings and howlings. And when they laughed--well, you can imagine."

Can you see a Creator in the things He's created? Or have you convinced yourself He's not real? Do you hear only barkings, growlings, bayings and howlings when the voice of the Creator may be trying to get through to you?

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Warren Kramer is the founding editor of Daily Wisdom. He operates a graphic design service Warren Kramer&Associates, www.warrenkramer.com, which offers visual design & illustration for printed communications & web sites. He also does photographic retouching & restoration (http://kramerimaging.com/) and plays solo jazz & classical-style sacred guitar (http://guitartistic.com/).