Culture wars over C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. In today's Wall Street Journal here. While in Ireland for Christmas in 2000 with our good friends the Venns, we met Douglas Gresham, C.S. Lewis' step-son who has the rights to nearly all of Lewis' books -- including the Narnia series. I went to meet him expecting a jaded, spoiled inheritor.
When we arrived at the train station in his small village, a grey-haired, flinty-eyed, tough-skinned man in tall work boots stood on the platform to meet us. We tossed our gear into the back of a muddy SUV and drove to his castle -- which was ringed with a large wall with security cameras. Over tea at their incredibly large table, Gresham and his wife told us how for over a decade they had shared their dwelling and their table with many women who needed a safe haven while keeping a baby, women who were recovering from the emotional effects of having an abortion, and even recovering abortion doctors who were leaving the trade (hence the security). Gresham talked more like a sailor than a dandy and his life was a direct reflection of both the teachings of Jesus and the influence of his step-father -- a gritty committment to putting faith into action with vibrancy and without pretense. For the Narnia films, Gresham was co-producer, and that gives me hope for the movie's faithfulness to the text.
The bottom line is that Gresham and his father were and are engaged in a battle with our culture, so it is no surprise that this movie is engaged in the same. That's the way of the believer -- to have tension with society. A comfortable fit should worry us.
By the way, if you're search for a Christmas gift for a child or adult, this is it.
When we arrived at the train station in his small village, a grey-haired, flinty-eyed, tough-skinned man in tall work boots stood on the platform to meet us. We tossed our gear into the back of a muddy SUV and drove to his castle -- which was ringed with a large wall with security cameras. Over tea at their incredibly large table, Gresham and his wife told us how for over a decade they had shared their dwelling and their table with many women who needed a safe haven while keeping a baby, women who were recovering from the emotional effects of having an abortion, and even recovering abortion doctors who were leaving the trade (hence the security). Gresham talked more like a sailor than a dandy and his life was a direct reflection of both the teachings of Jesus and the influence of his step-father -- a gritty committment to putting faith into action with vibrancy and without pretense. For the Narnia films, Gresham was co-producer, and that gives me hope for the movie's faithfulness to the text.
The bottom line is that Gresham and his father were and are engaged in a battle with our culture, so it is no surprise that this movie is engaged in the same. That's the way of the believer -- to have tension with society. A comfortable fit should worry us.
By the way, if you're search for a Christmas gift for a child or adult, this is it.
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