| There is no other stream |

Draw back the curtains and hear these words. A girl named Jill has just entered the magical world of Narnia. She is thirsty, so she heads into the forest in search of a stream. When she finally finds a stream, she is terrified because a lion sits beside it. The lion tells her to come and drink.

"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.

"I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.

"Then drink," said the Lion.

"May I - could you - would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.

"Will you promise not to - do anything to me, if I do come? said Jill.

"I make no promise," said the Lion.

"Do you eat girls?" she said.

"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.

"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."

"There is no other stream," said the Lion.

Beauty bursts forth from this reading, deep rich theological beauty. Ponder the Biblical image of water, of a well of living water, of the stream flowing through the heavenly city. Move from here to the story of John 4, wherein we see an encounter between the Son of God and a woman at a watering place, at a well.

Furthermore, think about the symbolism behind meeting someone at a well. Look back through the stories of Jacob and Isaac meeting their wives at wells. Relationships find their foundation in encounters at wells. The woman of Samaria encountering Jesus is no different. Surely she is not the future wife of Jesus, but marriage is a discussion at the well. She has had many husbands; she has had a pluralistic lifestyle. Yet John 4 is not a lesson about marriage, for it is one about worship, and worship is about relationship.

I urge you to consider the woman of Samaria and the discussions she has with Jesus. The discussion of living waters is but one part of the story. Worship is the point that Jesus is building to. Just as marriage is a relationship built between two people, so too is worship. The backdrop of this is that history tells of the Israelites falling into Baal worship and Molech worship, thereby forsaking the worship of their God.

In the story by C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair, Jill desires to go and find a different stream. She is terrified of the Lion. She has the fear of God inside her, wrecking havoc on her mind and body such that she is immobilized and afraid. Yet the choice before her is life or death, the stream, or no stream. "There is no other stream."

This is the beginning point of Christianity. We must realize that God is the only stream, the only source of life, and the only hope in a dark and unknown forest. We must meet God at the well, and although we may be terrified at His majesty and power, at His ability to consume us and devour us, and because He detests sin, we must take hold of our trembling legs and take a drink of the living waters that spring up inside of us a well of eternal life. This is faith and fear and devotion and worship wrapped in one amazing choice.

| Perceptions and Proximity |

Another Chronicles of Narnia moment struck me the other day. I was reading through Prince Caspian, specifically when Lucy finds her way to Aslan in the middle of the night in the clearing just past the dancing trees. None of this is really that important, but it does help a bit of context. See, Lucy has returned to Narnia after being away for a year.

What happens next is the most beautiful little bit of theology I ever read:

"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."

"That is because you are older, little one," answered he.

"Not because you are?"

"I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."

Perhaps this doesn't seem like a big deal at all. But think of perception and growth. Things that seem monstrous to us as kids are not all that big once we grow up; things appear smaller as we grow bigger in proportion. But this isn't the case with God! With God, the older we get (or the deeper our faith), the bigger God grows in our eyes.

A verse such as John 14:21 suddenly pops for us, that if we keep God's commandments, we love God, and if we love God, He loves us and reveals Himself to us. The more we grow in God, the more He reveals Himself to us, and the more we see of His grandeur.

Our desire to read up on something and learn all that we can learn so that we can conquer it (like Math, for example) does not apply to God. The more we delve in, the bigger He gets. It is no wonder that people who have lived their lives in service to God, and who now face their death bed, do not fear, for they have such a real and accurate perception of God.

Perhaps the idea of walking closer to Him works as well. In the beginning we are onlookers from a far off. We may not see God at all. When we finally do see Him, He is but a tiny speck in the distance. The deeper we venture in our faith as we follow after Him, the bigger He becomes. Our perception is proportionate to our proximity.

Well, that is all for now.

Cheers.

| The Grand Story |

For one of my classes, I was required to answer twenty questions on the book of Jeremiah. This one was concerned with where the book of Jeremiah fit in historically. Emily convinced me to post it. Hope you enjoy it.

The book of Jeremiah often alludes back to creation, for God is the one who inspired the world to be. He created people and dwelled among them. These same people turned against Him, beginning the cycle that humans would continue in for centuries and centuries: transgression, fear, remorse, and soon repentance. God called these people out of Egypt back to Himself, and the covenant people were given laws so as to instruct these children as to right conduct and living. They were led, hand-in-hand, provided for by God as though by a nursing mother, to a land of plenty which would be theirs to claim. There they pushed for a king to lead them, like the other nations, and soon thereafter a king set out to build a house for God. After king David, the kingdom split into two factions, further separating themselves from God and from each other. The north and the south were ruled by different kings until eventually the north was conquered by the Assyrian arrmy.

To this, the sister nation of Judah should see the error of Israel and repent. However, this was not so. Judah, like her sister, became a harlot in God’s eyes. Judah was poised to be overcome and destroyed like her sister before her. But the story of God was never about destruction, for wanton destruction does not bring glory to God. Since neither of these nations was able to bring glory to God and both had shamed His name, something had to be done. The great vine of Israel and Judah, that God had planted and grown, was in need of pruning, perhaps even fire was needed to burn off the dead and rotten branches. Restoration, not destruction, was on God’s mind. He would bring a broken and weary people back to Him; He would draw near to those that had transgressed His law and sundered His covenant. And like the releasing of slaves after seven years of service, God would release His people from their exile in Babylon after seventy years. The edict of Cyrus would bring His people back to their land where they would await the Messiah. The spurned and jealous lover of our soul would come to earth, incarnate in the flesh, to dote His bride. The story comes full circle, as all stories do, with newly created bodies in a new creation reality: the wedding supper of the Lamb is the reality of complete and perfect reconciliation between God and His people. He will be our God and we will be His people, forevermore.

The story of Jeremiah fits historically within the siege of the southern nation of Judah and its prized city Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah endures the pain of a people who forsake him and want his life, and this brings him closer to the God he serves. Both suffer rejection, but rejection is only temporary. The story of Jeremiah encompasses and alludes to the grandeur of creation, the love of the eternal “I am” God, and the story of redemption and reconciliation of a nation that far precedes and anticipates the final redemption and reconciliation of all nations. What a book, one like I’ve never read before.