Prelude to the Journey to Narnia

I suppose I had read the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when I was very young. Today I recall nothing from that book prior to rereading it, but the name "C. S. Lewis" stuck with me.

It seems to have no way of running away from C. S. Lewis. In University I (un)fortunately encountered God and started my very long journey as a self professed Christian. Then I read Mere Christianity, and continued on to his other lesser known writings. I was aware that he wrote the whole Chronicles of Narnia, but it had never occurred to me to read them. I was more intrigued by his theological thoughts. Admittedly I still haven't read the Screwtape Letters yet, which I should.

January 1st 2017, I started to attend my home church in Hong Kong. Turned out I was constantly assaulted by the mentioning of C. S. Lewis in the sermons of that church. He was so frequently mentioned that the congregation groaned at the mention of his name. The groaning only went away after they got a new pastor who mentioned C. S. Lewis at a considerably lower frequency. Even then, I voluntarily joined the book club to discuss the book Mere Christianity. I guess you can declare me a willing victim.

As the church transitioned to another pastor, followed by my relocation to California, I thought I had successfully shook off C. S. Lewis. You can imagine my annoyance when occasionally the current church I am attending still mentions C. S. Lewis in passing. But he's a thing in the past now, right?

Just as Aslan confronts you at the least expected moments, C. S. Lewis also made a spectacular comeback to me when I least expected it. I had a complete meltdown in February 2024. After serious discussion with a worship leader and repentance (in the church in Hong Kong), I understood my despair with a new understanding. It lead me to a sermon that mentioned a Tim Keller book, which I eventually finished reading. I suspect this author will be the next assaulter once C. S. Lewis is done with me. But not yet. I'm stuck in Narnia for now.

Why, of course, Tim Keller had to mention C. S. Lewis.

In Counterfeit God, Tim Keller brought up the "de-dragoning" of Eustace in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader from the Chronicles of Narnia. It resonated with me deeply. I wanted to read that book in its entirety. But if I was going to read book 3 or book 5 (depending on which denomination you're in when it comes to reading order) of a series, I might just as well read the whole thing. And so I placed the order for a boxset.

Getting the boxset in chronological order of Narnia, the Magician's Nephew was the first that I read. I knew the symbolism of Aslan all along, but it still didn't prepare me for the emotional impact of the encounter with the lion head on.