Chronicles of Freedom

I feel this morning a bit like Prince Rilian in The Silver Chair, the sixth book in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series. He was held captive by the evil White Witch, who put a spell on him. Every day, if I remember right, he truly believed himself to be hers, owned and sealed in her service and cruel kingdom. But at night, the enchantment broke for a few hours. He would remember who he truly was, what the White Witch was about, and his place in Aslan's domain. Each evening, then, they would tie him up to a silver chair deep in a cave so that he could not act on this deep truth. By morning, he would have forgotten it all once again and would be free to roam about unchained, the guards knowing he would remain enslaved to the witch through her spell on him. But finally, in a dramatic scene, the children free him from the chair and so broke forever the spell on him.

That's my story. Something has come under cover of night broken a little more the chains binding me to the chair. I see a bit more clearly today. It's almost beyond imagining what the Rescuer can do even with our sin, our hiding, our refusal to leave the slums for the offer of a holiday at sea, in Lewis's words. In my current favorite song (Missing Love by PFR), there's a line that says, "Teach me to live as one who's free." Yes, that's it.

I remember a story of a lion in a zoo that had been pinned up several days in a small cage for repairs to his larger (though still constricting) domain. He had room only to pace in a circle, which he did continuously through his imprisonment. When finally the zookeepers opened the door, he didn't step out, but continued to trace his circle in the floor of the cell, his head so drooped that he couldn't see that the door had been swung wide open. To free him, they had to prod him from the far end of the cage. He first seemed to take it as cruelty, and became angry and violent towards them. Only finally did he find his way to freedom.

Father God, I want to go on in my journey, and to do so I realize a couple of things I need to see.

First, I need to see it as good, and as a journey You have invited me on, equipped me for, and will see me through, a journey where You have wanted me to embark on, with Yourself, for such a long time. It is a journey of healing, of restoration, of intimacy and friendship, of fellowship and battle, danger, mystery, and staggering beauty. And as such, it requires my heart fully engaged -- worshipping, seeking, finding, desiring, hoping, seeing, following, leading, discovering, expressing.

Second, I need to see it as a journey that I'm not disqualified from taking. Not my sin, not anyone I know or don't know, not any snare of this world, not all the work or intentions of the Enemy -- nothing -- can keep me from Your love and all of the friendship and intimacy, all of the work of redemption and restoration of my heart, all of the heroic battles and adventures that come with, spring from, and lead toward Your love.

Open my eyes, Glorious Father, and give me deep conviction of the truth now of my place in You and the invitation and new heart and all that -- the Gospel, as it's called. I recieve You, Christ my Lord, as the Truth and the Full Revelation of the heart of the Father and of my own identity as Your image-bearing one. I love You, trust You, worship You, and say Yes! and Amen! to You.

I think my thought, and fancy I think thee.
Lord, wake me up; rend swift my coffin-planks;
I pray thee, let me live -- alive and free.
My soul will break forth in melodious thanks,
Aware at last what thou wouldst have it be,
When thy life shall be light in me, and when
My live to thine is answer and amen.
-George MacDonald, Diary of an Old Soul