Fairytales, Cynicism, and Hope
“My dear Lucy,
I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather,
C. S. Lewis.”
- preface to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
I was about five or six when my dad read the Chronicles of Narnia to me. This was my introduction to the world of fiction; and this introduction took my already-lively imagination and expanded it into something that beheld the world as a place full of potential and possibility; something that beheld the world with a sense of wonder.
But – as the stories of countless other humans go – I grew cynical as I grew older. I no longer viewed the world with a sense of wonder. And the cynicism that crept in during my mid-teen years is something that, truthfully, I struggle with to this very day.
After all, it's so easy to be cynical. And if you aren't cynical - I mean, have you seen the news headlines for today? And I don't mean today as in the day I write this. I mean today as in the day that you are reading this, for there is always, always, seemingly-never-ending bad news. What is there to be hopeful about? To be joyful about? That sense of wonder, so easy to grasp in childhood (in most circumstances), seems nearly worthless. There is no wonder. There is no beauty. There cannot be in the face of such evil.
And yet -
“Enemy-occupied territory---that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
As Christians, cynicism cannot be the answer for how we deal with life. If we believe in a God who came to earth & took on human flesh & died & rose from the dead, all to save us from what keeps us from living in total unity with Him forever & ever for all eternity, so much that we would even stake our lives on it, then we cannot allow cynicism to be our mode of coping with the evil that pervades this world. To go down the road of cynicism only leads to despair.
It all sounds lovely in theory. Learning to put this into practice is a bit harder – at least, I've found it to be.
But I do believe that regaining a sense of wonder helps a great deal. That C.S. Lewis quote at the beginning of this? He speaks of a time when his goddaughter will be old enough again for fairytales. What do fairytales encourage in humans? A sense of wonder.
I also believe the road to regaining a sense of wonder looks different for everybody. Or, perhaps, even gaining a sense of wonder, for some. I will never ignore those who have suffered deep traumas (and sustained deep wounds as a result) by giving out blanket-statement advice. Truly, I couldn't possibly dish out blanket-statement advice to anybody at all, trauma or not. For to do that would be to cast aside the Imago Dei – the precious fact that each person is made in God's Image and Likeness, and reflects a different facet of Him that has never been nor will ever be reflected again. That is a solemn, beautiful thing – and perhaps forming the habit of acknowledging this is a step for many people toward regaining a sense of wonder.
I do know one thing, however. Nobody can regain a sense of wonder without the healing Hand of God. And our good Lord heals in countless ways. For some, therapy is a way in which God wishes to begin to heal, by using the therapist as His instrument of healing. For others, God's healing process may begin by an increase in daily prayer. Or going to daily Mass once a week in addition to Sundays. Or making a commitment to going on a ten minute daily walk in a park and taking in the beauty of God's creation. Or even picking up the Chronicles of Narnia, or watching the Lord of the Rings.
How many of us binge on the news, or shows that aren't bringing us closer to God, or social media, which so often winds up being a dangerous combination of news, rumors, gossip, and mindless entertainment?
We must steep ourselves in hope.
We must steep ourselves in beauty.
We must steep ourselves in wonder.
And truthfully, the side effects of doing these things not only helps to bring us out of the mire of cynicism, but it helps bring us closer to God.
For we've been created by a wondrous God Who speaks in tongues of beauty, truth, and goodness – a God to be marveled at, a God to be contemplated on with a gaze of wonder and awe.
The devout Catholic writer J.R.R. Tolkien coined the fascinating term of "eucatastrophe" while speaking of Christ's Resurrection in a letter. To him, this turn meant a sudden turn toward joy when all hope seemed lost.
"The Resurrection was the greatest 'eucatastrophe' possible in the greatest Fairy-Story – and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness and altruism are lost in Love."
- J.R.R. Tolkien
I had a theology professor in undergrad who often spoke of God as the Master Storyteller. Our own lives are stories which we have the power to write, in imitation of our Creator, our God the Master Storyteller; and the teachings of the Catholic Church are a guide to help us evaluate if the stories we are writing with our lives align with the story God is telling.
I think Tolkien also saw God as a Master Storyteller. He speaks of salvation history as the "greatest Fairy-Story" and to him, Christianity was a "true myth", with all other myths in human history containing fractured pieces of truth from the "true myth".
The more I view God through the lens as Master Storyteller, the more I am healed from my own cynicism. For I have found that for myself, it is impossible to continue down a path of cynicism when I see life through a supernatural lens.
We're living in the midst of a raging battle with angels and demons fighting tooth-and-nail against each other. I once heard that a saint (I don't recall who) said if we could see what goes on around us in the supernatural realm, we'd die of fright. Praise be that our Lord has given us a veil between the natural and the supernatural! And yet that veil is torn every so often. It tears through the fabric of time and space in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We battle temptations and we receive God's grace, both which come straight through the veil. We are given tastes of the raging battle.
But God, through that joyous turn, that greatest eucatastrophe that the Resurrection is, defeated sin and death. The Lamb of God has won the war. This raging battle around is waged by shrieking demons, knowing they've lost, desperate to bring down as many souls with them as possible.
And we, friends – we have a role to play in all of this! We can either choose to help the demons or join the ranks of angels and saints. We can choose to abstain from the fight, effectively enabling demons to shriek louder. Or we can fight, with prayer as our weapon (and the rosary in particular as our sword). We can be cynical and wind up turning in on ourselves; or we can be valiant for God. Satan offers us eternal despair; God offers us eternal hope in the Resurrection.
C.S. Lewis was right. This is enemy-occupied territory. And the rightful king does indeed call us, even every moment, to join His great campaign of sabotage.
Holy Week approaches quickly as I write this. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. In just a few days we remember the darkest day in human history. And yet so quickly does the Resurrection come. Hope shines forth. Christ blots out sin and death.
It's a good time of year to choose hope. Or to re-choose hope.
Christ meets you where you are at & offers you this gift of hope, regardless of where your heart is.
