September 10, 2008
I’ve always felt a bit of an affinity with Susan in the Narnia chronicles. I’ve played her in an amdram performance on the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and I’ve seen myself in her. I was always the bossy overly perfect older sister, always desperate to please everyone, desperate to fit in. I’m always chilled when I reach the end of the Last Battle and she’s not there, and I ask myself what went wrong. The new Prince Caspian movie raised some interesting ideas for where it all went wrong for Susan. She is torn between love of Narnia, where she cannot stay, and desire to love the world, to be normal, to be content. We all know the depression that follows standing on the mountaintop with God; when we descend into the valley of normalcy, unanswered prayer and temptation; where the tangible presence of God is but a memory which has become bittersweet because of its absence. The valley is where our faith can be made or broken.
John Ortberg talks about the need to actively seek God in those times, to search for him, to listen for his voice as a whisper. God is no less present but it is part of the journey for us to seek him. Aslan gives this challenge to the children at the end of Prince Caspian, where he tells them that he is in their world too. Susan is the sad warning that it is easy to fail. She didn’t want to live in the knowledge of Narnia, it was too hard.
Where Susan fails Edmund succeeds. Edmund is my favourite character, for Narnia wasn’t just an amazing experience for him, it was a life changing one. Meeting Aslan changed Edmund forever, and this was a transformation that went beyond the world of Narnia and into his life in the Shadowlands. His life was actual proof of the existence of Narnia. His humility is also a real challenge. He has known failure and sin, and lives each day with the knowledge that Aslan died for him. This leads him to act differently to the others. When Lucy tries to lead them apparently over a cliff after a vision of Aslan, he is the only one of the others prepared to follow her, despite not seeing Aslan himself. His title is King Edmund the Just, which I never really understood as a child. Now I think he was just because he knew what it was to fail.
September 8, 2008
When I got back from Pakistan I did very little for about a week – not surprising really… But one thing I did do was go to see Prince Caspian, the movie, twice. The second time I took notes and here are some of my thoughts. The four children made me think a lot about different aspects of Christian life.
Lucy poses a major challenge for me in how big her faith is. Near the start of the film the children are in the ruins of the palace at Cair Paravel they used to call home, and they don’t recognise it until Lucy says “Imagine walls, and pillars just there, and a glass roof!” My immediate thought was that Lucy had an incredible ability to see beyond the ruins, the circumstances she found herself in, and see what’s really there. At church the other day we looked at the story of Jesus calming the storm and it was asked why Jesus was able to sleep. The answer was that his world was bigger than the storm. While the disciples saw only the wind and the waves, Jesus was at peace in the knowledge and faith in how big God was. Our challenge is to see beyond the difficulties we find ourselves in, be they financial, relational, stress, loneliness, depression, fear… to see beyond them and see how big God is. Lucy challenges us because she does. She is actively looking for Aslan. Later in the film after Lucy sees Aslan and none of the others do Peter asks “Why wouldn’t I have seen him then?” To which Lucy simply replies “Maybe you weren’t looking.” It is easy to write off Lucy’s faith as that of a child, but we are reminded in Prince Caspian that her faith is not static but growing. She is surprised that Aslan appears to have grown. He replies “Every year you’ve grown; I’ve grown.” As she gets older Aslan also grows which I think is such a beautiful metaphor for letting God grow as your view of the world grows. Too many off us struggle with a big world and a small God, rather than having it the other way round. Only when we believe in the big God do we realise that our problems, the storms we face in life, are so small in comparison.
I also have some thoughts on Susan and Edmund but I will leave these for another time lest this post get any longer!
July 21, 2008
Well, I’ve been back in the UK a few days now and it sort of feels like I’m in limbo. I suddenly realised today just a week ago I was in Muree, in the mountains with all the team. I got back to the UK into total insanity; I had so many things to do and ran around like a headless chicken for a whole two days. Rushing home via York on Saturday and then spending Sunday at church and celebrating my parent’s anniversary I have reached today feeling pretty deflated and a bit lost. So it seems like as good a place as any to evaluate the last month or so.
Going to Pakistan was an incredible experience. I learnt a huge amount about myself and my world view added a whole continent. I hadn’t realised that in my mind there was Europe, America, and Africa, but no Asia. The Muslim world had become in my mind a little like eastern europe was to many people under communism. A block of uniform states behind a fairly inpenetrable wall. It is horrifying to realise this as I have always considered myself to have a good world view. Studying Muslim culture before we left and experiencing the Asian form of it in Pakistan really opened my eyes to the incredible variety and individual cultures I had lumped together as one. I was confronted with an incredibly beautiful country, full of life and energy where news reports would speak of extremism and fear. I felt so privileged to be able to visit. Wearing the clothes, literally, also taught me a lot. I found myself acting more like a Pakistani lady when wearing the charda, at once more restrained but at the same time more confident (fitting in more I suppose).
Coming back to the UK – to western clothing, quiet streets and supermarkets, is very strange. It is cold here! There are less expectations of me here I suppose. When I walk down the street no one notices me. When I speak, everyone understands. People expect me to be myself, the same girl who grew up here. And I know I am changing, have changed and will be changed in the future and feel a little lost surrounded by everything familiar.
There are little birds in the garden, and we have a Japanese visitor. I haven’t been to the cinema since I got back and the only books I have any interest in reading are archaeology ones (that part of me at least is unchanged!). I am enjoying catching up with people, though many old friends do not seem to be around here anymore. And perhaps limbo is not limbo at all but rest.
July 16, 2008
Have returned to sunny scotland. Please continue to pray – still need it. Sorry to anyone else who mysteriously didn’t get my emails throughout my time out there. Drop me a line so I know…
June 9, 2008
This is probably the last post that goes up before we leave for Pakistan… so don’t be suprised at the lack of posting. If you would like to get update emails on whats going on just send me an email at CoralieAcheson@aol.com.
Thanks everyone!
May 31, 2008
Well I just returned from A and E where the lady from NHS Direct forced me to go just to have the smarmy doctor be really annoyed with me for not having a medical degree… Meh! Like I wanted to be there either!
For anyone totally lost this would be the saga of the possibly broken, but now definitely not broken arm…
It still hurts a lot.
May 26, 2008
Um, exams are evil evil things. Life is crazily busy at the moment. We got our visas on Thursday, which is very exciting. I also got a shalwar chamese (which I have to admit was more exciting at the time than the visa…). In less than three weeks I shall be in Pakistan! In less than 24 hours second year will be over. In less than 48 hours I shall be in Ireland. And I move out of my flat a week today. So in the meantime here is a picture of the pretty balloons from Olivia’s 21st on Saturday and a little reminder that, no matter how stressful and annoying life can be, no one can be uncheered by a balloon!
May 14, 2008
So sorry for not writing anything. I have an exam tomorrow and two more after that, so don’t expect anything for a while…
Yesterday I escaped the tedium of studying for a couple of hours and went to see Iron Man (which was very good!) It made me feel so mischievous and childlike – it was like running away to hide from the revision. Does that sound messed up? Clearly my brain has turned to mush…
On another note I discovered that when House (MD, not any other kind…) diagnosed this lady with having a tape worm in her brain this was not as unlikely as I thought. Apparently evidence from the imprint the brain leaves on the inside of the skull, from the Ertebølle people (c3000BC) shows that many of them had fish tape worms in their brains… I just thought I’d share that random, and disgusting, archaeological fact with you!
May 1, 2008
As many of you know I am heading out to Pakistan this summer as part of a small team who are going out to teach English. We want to build meaningful relationships, have good conversations, and most of all, love people. I would really appreciate your support and prayers for myself and the team as we prepare to go out; both practically and spiritually. Specific practical prayer issues are visas and fundraising, and health and safety while we are out there. Spiritually we need inspiration, passion and protection.
If you would like to help there are several things you can do:
Buy a piece of art: I will take some photos of the work I’m selling as soon as I get new batteries for my digital camera and upload them here. Send me an email telling me which picture you would like, what size (A5 = £10; A4 = £15 – will make each individually), and your address.
Buy a photo. Choose a photo from my flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/coralfrog) – the best ones are in the sets rather than just on the photostream. Send me an email telling me which photo you would like, what size (6×4 = £5; 5×7 = £10), whether or not you would like it glossy or matt, and whether you would like it mounted on card, or sent just as a photograph. I will also need your address to post it to you.
Come to an event if you are in Glasgow – check out my facebook or send me an email to find out more.
Buy miles of my journey to Pakistan (£1.50 for 10 miles).
Please make cheques payable to SIM and post them (just email me if you would like my address).
Put a link on your blog to this post (pretty please!!!)
Thank you so much. Most of all I need your prayers.
If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
