If it were possible to take a vacation in the land of Narnia, we Christians would. Seriously, we'd pack our God's Gym t-shirts , "his pain our gain," and book the next flight to the forests of Narnia in a heartbeat.Or would we book our flights to the wardrobe that you have to walk through to get to Narnia? Can you imagine 10,000 sweaty, plane-tired Christians forming a single file line to get through the narrow door of the wardrobe? I bet we'd have to take our shoes off. And you'd need a second bin for your laptop. If you needed assistance with a wheelchair they would help you, but they would do so grudgingly. And there would be that one guy that acts surprised that he's at the wardrobe:
"What? You need my ID? Where is it? Where is it? I'm just so excited about meeting Aslan that I completely forgot about my ID! I hope I don't run into any Turkish Delight! That's a joke! I kid! I kid!"
I'd probably get stuck in the wardrobe next to a baby. It'd be crying and wiping its nose on all the fur coats that are in there. I'd want to say what I am always tempted to exclaim when I see a family in Venice with an infant strapped to their stomach like a deer on a roof rack, "Look, this baby could be going to Wal-Mart for all it knows. Why bring it Narnia?"
And then you know they'd lose your luggage. I don't know how, I mean it would make sense for us to carry it ourselves, but there would be a conveyor belt, there's always a conveyor belt. Plus would you really trust your suitcase to a little goat man? He's got such tiny hooves, how's he going to carry anything? And some of the animals would definitely give you attitude. Beavers especially, I can just see them saying, "Ugh, tourist season. It's impossible to get a good dinner reservation right now."
On second thought, I'm going to pass on Narnia and go play Frisbee with Bombadil.
29 comments:
Narnia! Yeah! Let's go! Goat man can have one less piece of luggage. I'll carry my own, thank you!
you've probably already thought about it, but this post made me think about tv shows out there that had been popular by christians, more like years ago, but shows such as 7th heaven & touched by an angel.
Hilarious! You're brilliant.
i'm sure the white witch is in charge of homeland security in Narnia.......and probably the security check point at Hartsfield.....
I think the only problem with Bombadil is that he'd never stop making songs up long enough to get a word in edgewise.
So would the security workers be the "Wardrobe Security Agency?" because they could also pull double duty with the "church ladies" and their ginormous handbags on Sunday mornings.
Keep up the good work!
I would NOT go to Narnia. Those creatures freak me out more than just a little. I do love the kids accents, though.
When I was little, I used to go throughout the house looking for passageways to Narnia. Never found them though, doggoneit. (Enter reference to previous swearing post.) Of course, that was before I'd finished the series and discovered how it all ended, but still, as a 6 year old, I really thought I could find a way to Narnia in my suburban 1960-something built split level. So disappointed when that didn't work out.
While there may not be Christian context for Harry Potter, this is EXACTLY how I feel about Hogwarts. I'm still not totally convinced that there isn't a platform 9 and 3/4 at Grand Central Station.
where in the world do you get this stuff?
I'd want to say what I am always tempted to exclaim when I see a family in Venice with an infant strapped to their stomach like a deer on a roof rack, "Look, this baby could be going to Wal-Mart for all it knows. Why bring it Narnia?"
Ummm... Can I just say... OUCH!! Uh, shoulda left the baby with grandma?
I don't mean to be harsh, but is it because the baby won't get anything out of it (aside from being with its parents, that is) or that it will ruin someone else's enjoyment? Though I feel certain that C. S. Lewis would have shared this view of infants. Tolkien, not so much...
Lit -
I guess it's more of a statement about whenever parents drag kids places. Like to the movies at midnight or to barnes and noble at ten PM. I guess I am overly sensitive to when I see some kid that can't form a sentence crying because it's four hours passed his bedtime and the parents are essentially like, "Calm down kid. Yes we decided to have a baby but that shouldn't really impact our lives." I was trying, poorly I might add, to make a statement about treating kids like accessories.
Jon
That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. While I do think that children can and should accompany their parents a good deal of the time, I agree that the parents should respect the feelings and needs of the child--however young that child might be. That being said, young children can be extremely portable, and don't always like staying home (or going to Wal-Mart)! To Narnia and the North! ;)
On the other hand, my babies go to bed waaay after 10! ;)
Lit -
Great points. I think in some ways my wife and I did not take our first child enough places. As far as bed time goes, so many people do it different ways. Our kids (4 and 2) go to bed at 7. I get home from work at 4:30 so we're still able to get some kid time in. It's the only way my wife and I can get a few hours together too. But different folks have found their own way to do it for certain. I'm by no means the parent police.
Jon
Understood. I'm not good with fixed schedules, so we're a little chaotic, but we manage! ;)
I like to think that if I take my children places (which is a challenge right now--6m, 2y, 11y), others will think, "hey, I can do that, too!" which, of course, only works when things are running smoothly! :) But I think we relegate children to their own spaces too often, implying that "their lives" should be kept separate from "our lives." We don't have the Victorian nursery, but we're a segregated culture when children are concerned. There is something vaguely appropriate about discussing this on a post about Narnia since Lewis discussed adult views of children's literature at length... (Trying desperately not to hijack the thread...)
Jon, Your children probably go to bed about the same time as my daughter does. This is only frowned upon because in London, England your 7pm is probably our 11pm. But it is nice to know that when I'm getting my angel to sleep you are doing the same! lol
I've not seen the 'new' Narnia so I can only go by the BBC classic (the BBC still play it at times here), which is a little bit like a car crash. You want to look away but you just can't!
Nice to know our accents ease the trauma a bit, though.
I'd go to Narnia. Except...uhm...they didn't always go through the wardrobe. Remember, in Prince Caspian they were waiting for their train to take them to school.
But, you're right. It'd be very smelly and sweaty.
Actually, in Prince Caspian, Edmund and Lucy were on their way to stay with their cousin, Eustace, who is an important supporting character in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and is the male lead in The Silver Chair. (The BBC version stays truer to the books than Walden Media has so far.)
Jon, I'm with ya on the trip to Middle Earth. I wanna go hang out at Rivendell and then go visit Galadriel's realm. Just no orcs, please. If I must go to Narnia instead, please let it be sometime during the Pevensies' reign (before Jadis got up to her bad tricks again).
Absolutley... and I'm not even ashamed.
I would go to Narnia in a minute..in fact, at the very moment I read this post, I was listening to the Narnia soundtracks.
I'm probably one of the guiltiest Narnia-lovers ever. And proud of it.
I just gotta say...I grew up on the BBC classic, and I still love it. I know, I know, now we have this technologically advanced CGI adventure we all know and love today...but I still love the BBC one. My husband thinks I'm nuts for it. But I do.
alice,
Same here! When Universal Studios opens their Hogwarts park, I'm gonna start going every year. I'm only half joking...
And yes, I'd go to Narnia too. Especially if I could live a whole life there and then come back here and live another! That would rock!
I was out shopping the other night at 9pm and there were kids all throughout the store melting down. My kids were tucked away in bed with daddy at home. I assumed it was the product of single parents trying to make life work in an imperfect situation.
I'd visit Narnia, Diagon Alley, and Middle Earth if given a chance!
This is exactly how I feel about Narnia... I consider myself something of a Narnia nerd and being one of those, you normally don't think about things like the beavers being angry at tourists... Good Job.
Oh and alice, there is a platform 9 3/4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
King's_Cross_railway_station#Harry_Potter
Actually, in Prince Caspian, they WERE on a train station platform going to school. In Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Lucy and Edmund are at Eustace's and all three of 'em get into the Narnian world through a painting. Does correcting someone on Narnian trivia, like correcting someone on which day is the Sabbath, count as legalism? Or just geekiness? Ah, well, I'm obviously one of the ones that would be signing up for a vacation in Narnia...though I'd prefer to go through the wood between the worlds. As long as the correct pool was very clearly marked. (Yup, geekiness.)
I feel obligated to inform you that it is possible to hike to Narnia. There's this trail at IVCF's training facility in Michigan (Cedar Campus) that leads to Narnia! There's a lantern and everything...minus the talking beasts and mythical creatures...but...yeah...I've been to Narnia...I'm not even ridiculously obsessed with the series. ShAzAm!
Narnia. When I was eight I wanted desperately to go to Narnia, to play with Aslan as he did with Lucy and Susan after he re-appeared. To have adventures with Reepicheep.
Then when I was around 14 I began to figure out that Narnia was a land that did not welcome people with swarthy skin, or girls who had hit puberty. That kind of killed my interest.
It was funny until you slammed Beavers. Not cool, dude. Not cool. Anyway, I am probably the last Christian that "grew up in the church" who never read The Chronicles of Narnia, so I can't totally appreciate that post. Maybe I'll read them to my son and see what I was missing...
Nice Tolkien reference.
I want to go to Mos Eisley.
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