Nov. 5, 2005
In the book The Last Battle the dwarfs have been fooled by the Ape into believing that Alsan was living in the barn. When King Tirian tries to convince them to follow him they refused saying they would not be fooled again. In one of the final scenes, the King, along with Eustace and Pole meet Lucy and Peter in the barn. For them, the barn is a paradise. They see the dwarfs circled around and the dwarfs are not seeing the same thing as they are. The Dwarfs believe they are in the pitch black inside a smelly stable. When Lucy pleads with Alsan to do something for them, this is what happens.
Alsan raised his head and shook his mane. Instantly a glorious feast appeared in the Dwarf’s knees: pies and tongues and pigeons and trifles and ices, and each Dwarf had a goblet of good wine in his right hand. But it wasn’t much use. They began eating and drinking greedily enough, but it was clear that they couldn’t taste it properly. They thought they were eating and drinking only the sort of things you might find in a Stable…. “You see,” said Aslan. They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.”
The reason this story reminds me so much of the transfiguration of Jesus is because on the mountain Peter, James, and John see the greatest sight of their lives. As they come down the mountain, they have the choice of either allowing this moment to shape them or they can shape the moment into what they want it to be.
This is true for all of us. God reaches out to us and we can allow those moments to define who we are or we can redefine the moment into what we want it to be. The dwarfs chose to take this moment and believe they were in a stable while the others took the moment as something marvelous. As we experience God, I hope we will allow God to shape our lives.
Alsan raised his head and shook his mane. Instantly a glorious feast appeared in the Dwarf’s knees: pies and tongues and pigeons and trifles and ices, and each Dwarf had a goblet of good wine in his right hand. But it wasn’t much use. They began eating and drinking greedily enough, but it was clear that they couldn’t taste it properly. They thought they were eating and drinking only the sort of things you might find in a Stable…. “You see,” said Aslan. They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.”
The reason this story reminds me so much of the transfiguration of Jesus is because on the mountain Peter, James, and John see the greatest sight of their lives. As they come down the mountain, they have the choice of either allowing this moment to shape them or they can shape the moment into what they want it to be.
This is true for all of us. God reaches out to us and we can allow those moments to define who we are or we can redefine the moment into what we want it to be. The dwarfs chose to take this moment and believe they were in a stable while the others took the moment as something marvelous. As we experience God, I hope we will allow God to shape our lives.
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