Puddleglum, PC, and me

When I was growing up, I LOVED the Chronicles of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the story of four children who journey from our world through an old wardrobe into a magical world of talking animals and eternal winter and the great Lion Aslan, was my favorite, but I read all of the others as well, and grew especially fond of The Silver Chair.

In The Silver Chair, two human children, Eustace and Jill, enter Narnia and are given the task of finding Narnia's Prince Rilian, who has been missing and enslaved for ten years. With the help of a Marshwiggle named Puddleglum, they do find him and release him from his chains, but before they can all leave his place of imprisonment, his captor returns, disguised as a beautiful lady. She engages them in conversation, lulling them into a dreamlike state with pulsating music, pleasant aromas, and clever questions designed to make them think that what they have always known as reality is, in fact, nothing more than fantasy, and that the only actual reality is the one she places in their minds.

It takes gloomy Puddleglum to shock them back to their senses. He stomps out the fire that has been creating the aroma and the pain in his foot clears his head enough to declare, "Suppose we have only dreamed up, or made up, all those things - trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a great deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow." Of course, Narnia is the real world, and the rest of the book shows how Puddleglum's speech exposes the evil one for what she truly was and how Prince Rilian returns to his rightful place in Narnia.

I share that here and now, because I feel a bit like Puddleglum in our world today. All around us are voices and rhythms and things appealing to our senses that are trying to persuade us that the right values to have are, in fact, quite different than what used to be seen as right and true. Conversations that would have been seen as ludicrous even ten years ago are being taken quite seriously. People running for political office get into the kind of arguments that would land students in the principal's office, and yet they are still running. Callousness for human life is caught and exposed on video tape, and people argue that what is being seen and heard is, in fact, not what you think is being seen and heard. 

I imagine that some of you are feeling the same feeling of befuddlement as me. Have things really changed and we must go along with it? Can we still serve our families and raise our children as we believe we should? Are we in fact being foolish, or bigoted, or heartless, or even hateful by clinging to what others see as antiquated beliefs?

Or is there such a thing as Truth? Yes, Truth, with a capital "T". In his haziness, Puddleglum was willing to to follow Aslan whether he was real or not, but the Bible doesn't actually leave that option open. In fact, the apostle Paul is very clear in 1 Corinthians 15 that if it is only for this life that we have hope, "we are of all people most to be pitied." 

But we need not worry because our foundation is solid. The evidence for that can be found in many places (begin here if you are in doubt), but as important as that is, my purpose here today is different - not to convince you of the truth but to remind you of it.

As a woman who wants to follow Jesus, and wants to encourage other women who want to follow Jesus, let me take a moment and be Puddleglum for you, for all of us, and remind us all of some fundamental truths revealed in God's Word and throw political correctness to the wind. Because sometimes when the way is dark and confusing, we need a reminder of the Truth to cling to until we can find our footing again. So cling to these...

• God is still God and He does not change (Malachi 3:6).
• The Word of God is still the Word of God and it does not change (Matthew 24:35).
• Jesus did die for our sins and was raised to life, and gives life to all who call on His name (1 Cor. 15:3-8).
• And by the way, eternal life is ONLY through Him (John 14:6).
• Men are still men, and women are still women, as God created us (Matthew 19:4).
• Modesty and sexual purity and chivalry are still good (1 Thess. 4; 1 Tim. 2:9; Eph. 5:25-27).
• Marriage is still according to the One who designed it, between a man and a woman, for as long as they both shall live (Matt. 19:6).
• Coarse speech has no place in the life of those who follow Christ (Eph. 4:29-30; 5:4).
• Children still need to obey their parents and others in authority (Eph. 6:1).
• Human life begins in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16), under God's loving care.
• The weakest members of our society, including babies (including those in the womb), should be protected from harm, not abused or killed (Prov. 24:11-23; Psalm 139:13-16).
• What people want to be true does not change what is true (Isaiah 5:20).
• Opposing God never works, because He is God (Psalm 2).
• Jesus will come back, whether we believe in Him or not (Acts 3:19-21).
• We will all be held accountable for our careless words and actions, whether we believe in Him or not (Matt. 12:36). We cannot and should not just do whatever feels right. He is our standard.
• God is sovereign. That means, in the end, God wins, and only what matters to Him, and those who join Him, will survive (Rev. 22).
• God is holy and loving and compassionate and just all at the same time (1 Peter 1:16; 1 John 4:8; Exodus 34:6; Romans 3:25-26), and we can be, too. 

There. I know there are plenty who will look at this and want to argue chapter and verse or throw something scientific or political or sociological to argue that we shouldn't push my beliefs on others or whatnot. But this post is not for them. It is for my sisters in Christ who need to know that the foundations ARE still there, and that truth IS still true.

When we feel like the foundations are being destroyed, we need not cower in fear, hide from the world, or try to resurrect an earlier time period when it was more comfortable to be a Christian. But we can - and must - speak truth to one another, to our children, to our husbands, and to our families. We can rest in the knowledge that God has outlasted every humanly attempt to manipulate and change His ways, and that in the end HE WINS. None of this surprises Him. 

It is hard enough to serve our families, raise our children, love and support our husbands, or to walk whatever path the Lord has for us whether that includes children or marriage or not. It is even harder when we start to doubt our compass and our guide. But God's Word is true in every generation, including the most wicked, and His ways are always good.

Know this, beloved daughter of the King. God is real, and God is forever, and His truth reigns, and His truth wins. Believe it, walk in it, live in it, share it in love, rest in it. And be a Puddleglum for others, unafraid to speak truth in the darkness and to stand with Christ. Because He is the ultimate reality that defines all others, even in today's crazy upside-down world.