  urlLink Narnia I have the boxed set of the tales of Narnia, having bought it not long after my son was born, telling my wife that it was to read to him when he got older. That was a lie: I had had an earlier boxed set, a paperback version, and the books had given out, the pages fell out. That was when I was about 19, and after I had read the Chronicles fully through at least four times between the ages of seven and 19. This time I bought a nice boxed set that were hardcovered, and would last longer than 11 years. I don't remember how many times I have read this particular set, but I think it was previously two times. This is my third time around, and they are still fresh! (I don't think it is the paper of the new set, so perhaps because of memory loss!?
) The Christian imagery of the garden of Eden, creation, and the way the inhabitants of Narnia refer to the children as 'The sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve,' is interesting rather than dogmatic. Aslan the lion is a combination of the fearsome god of the old testament, slaying those who do evil with a vengance, while possessing Jesus' penchant for taking man's sin as his own, as demonstrated in his agreeing to let the White Witch kill him in place of Edmund, who was a traitor. The stories are stories of good versus evil, light versus darkness, warmth versus cold. And they are stories of forgiveness and sacrafice. They are timeless, and I always feel like I have benefitted by reading them again. I just finished the Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe coming home on the train this evening.
After an absolutely horrible two days, where I worried about my future in my company, was wounded by the disrespect shown me by one of my co-workers, as well as the temptation offered in a severance package, reading LWW was pure. Despite it's clarity of good and bad, it also offers a nuanced view of things, where good people could do bad, and repent, and forgiveness is important.
Reading these books is helping me get through a stretch that is really challenging me. I want to be able to read Narnia to my son: It may have been a lie that I bought them for him, but I have always wanted to read them to him. And when I think this, I am confronted with my failure to teach him English. I am not disappointed in him, but in myself. I am spending time now every weekend teaching him, but it is probably too little too late for us to enjoy Narnia together, as I did for the first time when my mom read it to us on our front porch in Oakville Washington when I was six. 
