…"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them… He will wipe away every tear from their eyes… He said 'I am making everything new!" Rev 21:3-5
Dear Friends,
I've read the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis since I was a little girl. My brother Keith and I used to rent the old BBC movies from our church library and watch them about once every two months. I especially loved Prince Caspian. I had such a big crush on Prince Caspian that I named my pet rabbit after him. (Not much of a compliment if you would have seen the rabbit.) I also love Lucy- her spunk, her youth, and her experiences.
When Lucy walks from the wardrobe into Narnia, she courageously enters a new place. It is beautiful to see the joy on her face and excitement in her eyes as she discovers this wonder in snow and creatures. After she leaves the wardrobe, she must choose to go back to Narnia, choose to believe the truth of the new place, even when those she loves and trusts deny that it exists. This is the kind of courage only a child knows!
Lucy embraces the mystery- the same mystery that is spirituality and God. Her instinctive response to the mystery and beauty of Narnia is to rush back to invite the others in. She does not hoard it, or try to explain away the mystery to Peter and Susan, but just says "Come and see! Come and live the joy of this new place with me!"
This is what we do in relationships; we say by our presence to others, "Come and be in a new place!" The new place of communion is not perfect, just as Narnia is not a perfect place. There is deep suffering in relationships, but joy is there as well. When we see a need in another and respond with relationship, we are doing something completely divine, but also fundamentally human. To come close to other human beings and rejoice in that closeness is to be as human as Jesus, the original Word Made Flesh was.
When I worked at Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying in Kathmandu I fell in love with several Amaas (elderly women) who lived there. My friend Gloria and I rode the bus for about an hour a couple days a week to get to this home, where we made beds, swept floors, did wash, laughed and teased the Sisters and Amaas, nothing extraordinary or glamorous. We loved it though and loved spending time with these beautiful women. After I left I assumed that the Amaas had forgotten about us, since many volunteers come through the homes doing the same work that Gloria and I did. Two weeks ago Gloria went back to work, almost three years later, and the Amaas that we had loved and been loved by remembered her! One of the Sisters that I was close to asked about me, and still has the picture I gave her when I left. Just as Gloria and I were transformed by those relationships, so they too were transformed!
Word Made Flesh believes in transformational relationships as the basis of service and ministry. Relationships with others give us the opportunity to be conduits of spiritual, physical, and emotional healing. Much of my time in Nepal will be spent in relationship building; drinking tea, eating rice and lentils, having conversations, loving and being loved. These relationships are already being formed, and through them I am learning to be like Lucy. I am learning to courageously enter a new place of communion with friends, family, and the poor, and embrace the mystery of their spirituality. I'm learning to say by my relationships "Come and see who I am, let me learn who you are. Together we will be transformed and will know Jesus!"
Let's travel to Narnia together…
With hope,
Liz