Tame Cars, Aslan, and Only Children

I passed by a goose with its gosling today. They were grazing beside the Garden State Parkway, about three feet away from the shoulder. This surprised me, since so many loud cars sped by them. Yet, they were so calm, and didn't even seem to be aware of the metal monsters rumbling by. Either that, or they somehow believed these metallic beasts to be tame, always heeding the lines and never daring to cross over into their grassy territory.

For the majority of my waking hours, this is how I live my life. God is all around me, and indeed, in me. Yet, for some reason, I go on grazing the same old empty things, acting as if he is the one who is tame. I live as if he will never dare cross the line into my ignorant serenity, though I know from experience and further education that invasion is the very business he is in. He is always trying to rouse me from my ennui-saturated tameness, urging me to become wild with him. If his blood runs through my veins, how could it be any other way?

Just like Aslan, I know that God is not tame. He does not heed any lines. It is a sign of utter irreverence and fatal idiocy to think otherwise. So, I am a disrespectful idiot who would be on a quick trajectory towards hell if it were not for the very thing that I constantly ignore: God's penchant for invasion.

I am glad that he is not tame, but I fear the full meaning of it.

I'll end on a tangent.

I listened to a radio segment a couple days ago discussing the difficulties that families are enduring in the places hit hardest by the earthquake in China. One thing the reporter noted was the fact that because of the one-child policy enforced by the Chinese government, there were countless stories of couples losing their only children. While some couples counted themselves fortunate for breaching the law and having more than one child, the majority of them were deeply grieved because the children they lost in the earthquake were their only ones. Families of three were horribly pared down to two.

I genuinely hope and pray that these couples would find comfort in the Gospel, which tells us that God also endured the loss of his one and only child. He is neither far nor unfamiliar with their pain and sorrow.