"A Little Child Will Lead Them

               Leopards will lie down with young goats, and wolves will rest with lambs. 
               Calves and lions will eat together, and a child will lead them.  [Isaiah 11.6  CEV]

This Advent season our church worship committee decided to use The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, as their focus, and encouraged all of us to read as much as we could of this children's classic. They set aside a time to decorate the sanctuary to look like the land of Narnia and we all made paper snowflakes to hang from the ceiling and the many trees. There was even a closet of sorts (coat racks on either side of the entrance to the sanctuary) through which the worshipers walked in order to enter  Narnia, just like the children did in Lewis's book.

Years ago I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which is the main story in the series, and I purchased the book that had all the Narnia tales in it. This year I decided that for my Advent reading I would go through the whole series. Every night before I go to bed I read a chapter or two, and I'm about half through the book now. Hardy gets to hear about the stories the next morning at breakfast!

I have been surprised, no, astounded and amazed at how relevant these Narnia tales are to our world situation today! (The Chronicles of Narnia were first published in the 1950s.) Also astonishing to me is the foresight  Lewis had in emphasizing a part of Scripture that has been neglected for the most part: the instructions to care for our planet and all that is on it.

The young children, with the help of Aslan (the lion), restore the land of Narnia which had turned to ice and snow due to the curse of the evil White Witch. Lucy, the youngest, is the intuitive one who is able to hear and sense Aslan (the Christ figure). She reminds me of Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish teenager travelling the globe to get her message across that change needs to happen quickly if we want to save our world from disaster. Lucy's siblings, Edmund (the one who succumbs to temptation); Susan (who likes her comfort); and Peter (a natural leader), set out to rescue the creatures who had been turned to stone by the White Witch.

As I read these stories, the paintings of Olga Cuttell, never leave me, and I picture the various characters in Lewis's tale to look like her characters in the calendar hanging on our kitchen wall. (I buy one every year because I love how she combines nature with people in her paintings.)

One of our granddaughters, 11-year-old Sasha, loves these pictures too. Taking a small step in re-using and recycling, I decided to make a picture book of the Narnia series with the calendar pages and that will be her Christmas present. I bought a ring binder at the dollar store with a beautiful purple cover, a colour she loves.
My favorite stuffies, little hedgehogs who helped to relax my students of German, say they approve! 

Olga Cuttell's Paintings

         The White Witch                                          Lucy, in tune with creation 

Aslan, the Christ figure

It seems to me that Olga Cuttell illustrates through her paintings what C.S. Lewis expresses in words. She may not have read the stories about Narnia, but she intuitively feels them and communicates them in her own unique way. 

We have eight grandchildren, the pride and joy of our lives. Here we are enjoying a week at a cottage near Lac du Bonnet.

How are these beautiful children expressing their creativity? 

Some love to read and write, some enjoy drawing and sketching, some thrive on physical challenges such as running and gymnastics, some participate in theatre and drama, one is studying communication at university.

What kind of world will they inherit? 

We have cared more about our comfort than about the health of our planet.

How can we fix the mess our world is in now? 
We need Aslan's help!

Hardy and I wish you a Merry Christmas 

and a happy and healthy New Year!