1 QUOTE

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

- Matthew 18:3

1 NOTE

It is not very often a reader is deeply moved by an author’s dedication. And yet this is exactly what happened to me as I re-read C.S. Lewis’ classic children’s book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The story is a fantastic adventure of four siblings during World War II who discover a portal into the magical, but trapped, land of Narnia. One of the four siblings is named Lucy. C.S. Lewis dedicated the book to his goddaughter, Lucy Barfield.

“My dear Lucy, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. You are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

I think Lewis was reflecting on the pressure people feel to ‘grow up.’ This is especially true with our teens and young adults today. In a rush to become mature people, they put away childish things to appear very grown-up. This means abandoning things like fairy tales. In the dedication, Lewis teaches Lucy that as we follow Jesus, there is another level of maturity…becoming a child again. Those filled with Kingdom life rediscover the wonder, imagination, adventure and hope often found in children’s stories.

When I turned 40 years old, my friend and pastor Darrell Johnson wrote me an encouraging birthday note, “John, it is my testimony that the older I become in the world, the younger I become in the Kingdom of God.” I always want to live with childhood wonder.

1 QUESTION

Are you old enough to read children’s books again?

Until Next Tuesday,

John