I LOVED PRINCE CASPIAN!

Seriously, what a great movie! And even though I haven't read the book in 5 years (it was very different from the book, by the way), I think I liked the movie even better! This is a raving review for me, because I usually poke holes through movies until you can see through them. But I really, really enjoyed this one. Maybe it’s because C.S. Lewis is one of my all-time favorite writers. Maybe it was because I felt like I was hearing gospel principles while seeing a masterful production in action. Maybe it was because the main characters were so heartbreakingly adorable. And even though I was making wise-cracks through the whole thing, I seriously felt the spirit so many times. I loved this movie, and it gave me a lot to think about.

One of the main themes that I recognized was coming to depend on the Lord for your comfort and direction, instead of trying to do it all by yourself. In the story, Peter declines to send for Aslan (who symbolizes Christ) and instead tries to lead the troops into battle and even challenges the main enemy to a duel to the death. He does this both out of a lack of faith that Aslan will help him (haven’t I gone through that?) as well as a desire to prove himself brave and capable. And finally, after he does defeat the main enemy in the duel, he realizes there are battalions of enemies ready to continue the attack. Only when Aslan intervenes is the battle actually won.

And when I think of my own life, I see how I suffer this time and time again. I think “this isn’t important enough to trouble the Lord with”, or that I need to conquer it by myself, be strong, prove myself. And I go along getting weaker and weaker until at some point, I realize that without Him, I just can’t do it. I have to stop trusting my own strength, and trust in the strength of the Lord to carry me through. This is a major principle I’ve been sent here to learn, and yet because of my own thick-headedness, I’m forced to learn it again and again.

But I’m so grateful to be a part of the battle. It may not be as romantic or as exciting to watch as this fabulous movie, but it’s still a true, valid struggle. And the sooner I can truly give up my will to living the laws of God, the sooner I can have peace and happiness. A line from one of my favorite songs (How Can I Keep from Singing), says

What though my joys and comforts die?
I know my Savior liveth;
What though the darkness gather round!
Songs in the night He giveth:
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that rock I’m clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of Heav’n and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

I lift mine eyes; the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smoothes
Since first I learned to love it:
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing:
All things are mine since I am His—
How can I keep from singing?