Thursday, June 19, 2008

Tribute to Aslan


Lion
Colored Pencil on Canson Paper

Matted, Mounted on Foam Core Board

Image size 8 x 10,
Matted size 12 x 16

$75.00
A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this item donated to
Turtle Ridge Wildlife Center

Available on Art Helping Animals


I love the work of C.S. Lewis, especially the Narnia series, and also love the movies based on this series. Lewis often draws parallels and creates symbols from the animal kingdom to teach us about ourselves and our relationship to the Creator and creation. One of the most obvious is the character of Aslan, the powerful, mysterious lion who rules the kingdom. His death and resurrection can only be a picture of the passion of Christ. My favorite scene in the first movie was near the end, when Aslan was walking away, leaving Lucy, Tomnas, and the others behind. With tears in her eyes, Lucy asked Tomnas if he would ever return, and Tomnas replied, "In his own time. He is not a tame lion, you know," and Lucy replied that no, he was not.

Sometimes it seems, we forget that God is not tame either. He won't be put in a box, won't be compartmentalized, controlled, or manipulated. Just when we think we understand Him, he does something wild, unexpected - something that makes no sense to us at all. He doesn't always want to meet us in quiet, dignified settings. Sometimes He wants to take us for an exciting, amazing ride. Those are the times we see His power, feel His comfort, get to know Him as He really is. And that is why we are here, isn't it? To get to know Him as He is, not as we want Him to be. We don't have to do great things, we don't have to be in charge, we are even allowed to make mistakes. Our purpose here is to get to know the King, to become His friend. Because we will be spending a long, long time in His presence.