Prince Caspian

This is a little bit of a movie review and a little bit of reflection. "Prince Caspian" was a cinematic success, in my opinion. It didn't feel as epic as its predecessor, but that's actually the nature of the books. LWW is the hallmark story. There are still good lessons in Caspian, though. For one, I see a "faith is believing without seeing" message. None of Lucy's siblings believed her when she said she saw a glimpse of Aslan. So they went about trying to solve the problems of Narnia on their own. After suffering a defeat, Peter sends off Lucy to find Aslan as they hold of the enemy with their remaining forces. Hmmm, how similar to us when we try to solve our own problems until we are defeating and as a last resort, cry out to God.

Second message: waiting on God. Peter wanted to take the fight to the Telmarines and even said "we've waited on Aslan long enough." Then they were defeated and several Narnians lost their lives. If he had waited on Aslan (who later told them nothing happens the way it has before) and believed he would come, how could the story have been different?

I read one review that didn't like how the message depicted that making wrong choices can easily be undone, referring to Lucy's healing potion or Aslan's breath to restore terminal injuries. But I don't prefer to look at it that way. There were consequences to the poor decisions, but the potion sort of represents grace and restoration. Well, Lucy and Edmund have one more adventure in Narnia, but Peter and Susan's time is over. They've learned all they can. Peter, in particular, struck me on a personal level. At the beginning of the story, he was confused and resentful at not going back to Narnia, having lived a lifetime as High King. He was still living in the "fantasy" world. In the end, he recognized the need to live in his own "reality" (though the movie didn't do a great job at resolving that internal conflict).

I can relate because I too wish I could live my fantasy vision for my life. As the credits rolled, I sympathized with Peter because as the story ended it was back to reality for me too. Sometimes I just really like to get lost in stories, particularly in the stressful season of life I'm in. But God has a purpose for everything. My work--though my fantasy would be to not have it--provides my needs, enables me to give, and has the flexibility for me to work often on ministry projects for church. We can't forget to live and God has promised that life would be filled to overflowing for those who follow Him. Now that's a pretty exciting story to be a part of.