Spiritual Lessons From Narnia
“You doubt your value. Don’t run from who you are.”
CS Lewis’s classic adventure novel is a true legacy of his works. Not only did it carry out an amazing story, but there are many Christianity/Catholic interpretations in the series.
The series managed to get into the big screen in 2005, and currently in development into a Netflix series. Thanks to that, many pastors, at least in Indonesia, has been using the movie and the novels to describe Faith and Self.
As for me, of all the movies I have watched, this series touched me the most. I read the novel and movie again and found many things that we can learn from the series. For me, the dialogues from the movie contain words that we can learn from.
Therefore, in this article, I am picking quotes that speak a lot about faith and self.
If you aren’t a Christian/Catholic but looking for a way to learn self-improvement from the series, it’s all here as well. The movie has many things that we can learn in life, especially from the second movie Prince Caspian. Just interpret it the way that suits you.
So here goes…
1) School isn't everything
“What do they teach in schools these days?” — Professor Digory, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
In this scene, Professor Digory was appalled that the elder Pevensie children didn’t believe in their younger sister.
Note that CS Lewis created Narnia in the 1930s, and he used this quote in the books and the movie. This guy is already questioning the school system for kids in those days. This is what he said:
“Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man into a clever devil.”
CS Lewis was trying to encourage holiness here, without learning of Christ in learning, then we are no better than the devils. Take note that CS Lewis was once an atheist before he repented, therefore, he had two points of views: An Unholy and Holy way.
I think it’s fair to say that throughout his life, he had learned to put Jesus first in everything he does, which is why in his Novels Narnia, there is a lot of Christianity aspects.
But if you take religion out of this, it will still make sense. Just because someone is well-educated, doesn’t always mean that he is doing well or he is even a good person.
Take a look at Elizabeth Holmes, she dropped out of college to start a business called Theranos. But 9 years later, it was closed due to Fraud.
It’s like gambling, the more you are indulged yourself to learn about the world of betting, the more you lose yourself.
There is a movie that perfectly demonstrated this, it’s called Molly’s Game, where a woman loses herself to the world of Casinos. Sure, she got billions, but in the end, she did many illegal things and destroyed lives. In the end, only her family was able to save her, not her friends whom she met in the gambling business and made billions, leading to my next point…
2) Family is important
“She’s your sister, isn’t she? You’re a family!! You might just start acting like one.” — Professor Digory, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
No one believed Lucy when she told her siblings that she found Narnia. They think that she’s lying when they know that she is one to never lie. When the Professor heard about this, he was furious that Peter and Susan didn’t believe her even when it sounded impossible. Thus, you can see that their familial relationship wasn’t strong enough.
A pastor once preached that the purpose of a family is so that we can learn about Him together. We need our family to take care of us, the people who would jump in first the moment they heard you are in danger. That is why, God wants us to grow spiritually amongst ourselves, and the first step is through the family.
Why family? Well, who was the one who nurture you when you were but a child? I’m not a married lady but I do know taking care of a baby is really hard work. Why wouldn’t anyone do that aside from your family?
No matter what, your family is very important. That’s why the concept of marriage is created, to build a life together. Ensuring we all grow closer to the One above and grow spiritually closer to Him.
3) Open your mind
“Will we ever go back?”
“Oh, I expect so. But it’ll probably happen when you’re not looking for it. All the same… best to keep your eyes open.”
What he meant was open your heart and let Him in. There is a huge difference when we say open your eyes literally and spiritually, there is more than meets the eye.
Take a look at it this way, we need to have different perspective when we look at things. Robert Kiyasaki mentioned a lot in his books about seeing things in reality or outside the box. So, what you dream of is your reality. If you see that you are going to be successful in the future and keep that in your mind, then it will happen.
The Wright brothers demonstrated their open minds perfectly when they designed their planes. They expanded their mind that humans can fly, that’s why today we can fly. They did all they can, using their talents and gift to make it happen.
I explained about their creative mind further here:
So, no matter what, even when you know it won’t happen YET, always keep your mind open. You won’t know that there will be an opportunity along the way that may help you.
4) Have faith
“I knew it was you! The whole time, I knew it! But the others didn’t believe me.”
“But why would that stop you from coming to me?”
I think this scene speaks to me a lot. Often there are times we may have heard His calls, but we ignored it because the others said that it may have been a wind blowing. Like, if you know it’s Him or your hunch tells you it’s true, we sometimes lose ourselves to the opinion of others because we are afraid to go alone.
Most of the time, this happens when we told people that they want to open their own business. A lot of business owners told me when they wanted to open their own business, they would always hear people telling them not to because it’s too risky. However, they followed their heart, and for Christians/Catholics, they’d always pray that it will go well.
5) Opportunity doesn’t come twice
“Things can never happen the same way twice, dear one.”
In Prince Caspian, Aslan didn’t appear before the children just because they keep calling him. Yes, it was tough times when Narnians were nearly extinct. However, we must also consider that in the book, it took place a thousand years after the events of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Some still believed in Aslan, and some didn’t.
I didn’t understand this analogy at first until I did my research and discussion on why he did it. It turns out, he wants Narnians and the children to have faith. He didn’t want them to be needy every time there is trouble. He wants them to think and grow.
Just like us, opportunity doesn’t come twice. Once there is one, go grab it! I once regretted that I didn’t go to a conference where they discussed how they created a video game called Assassin’s Creed. I didn’t go because I was lazy to go because it was a weekend. Had I go, maybe I could have had more chance to work on that franchise, and since to this day, I regretted it so much that I didn’t go.
From then onwards, I began to always jump in every time there is a new opportunity.
My takeaway
There is still a lot of things from the series that we can learn from. However, the ones I listed here resonate with me the most:
- School isn’t everything.
- Family is important.
- Open your mind.
- Have faith.
- Opportunity doesn’t come twice.
I hope you learn something here.
This story is published in Koinonia — stories by Christians to encourage, entertain, and empower you in your faith, food, fitness, family, and fun.
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