Last month I was given the The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe on DVD so I settled down to a cosy evening curled up on the sofa… but as with every time I see this movie, cosiness or relaxation is the last thing I get. You see, Narnia is real.

I remember seeing it in a crowded cinema with my sister, way back before Christmas. As the battle scene raged, with tears streaming down our faces we grabbed each others hand and gripped it for dear life. You see for us, the battle is real, and the casualties are real, and the absolute necessity for victory is real.

We had good reason to connect with this scene but we’re strangely not alone. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has come into 2006 topping the charts and grossing $456,513,967. But what is it that people, over the decades and over the generations, connect with?

The concept of another world into which we can go and become world changers is appealing in a society where we can feel lost amongst the multitude. Humanity’s need for purpose and identity is accomplished in Narnia where each human fulfils a prophesy, a destiny and a role. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are each vital to saving life and freeing a nation.

Epic world struggles, between great powers of good and evil, capture the imagination of those of us who can identify with these themes within their own world. The Chronicles of Narnia distil this struggle into a tangible representation. This allows us to play out our lost need to be heroic and a chance to battle the things we can’t see. The camps are clearly divided; we know exactly who the enemy is and know there is something worth fighting for. It allows us to simplify and physicalise the great narratives of good and evil, which we otherwise cannot envision within our complex or mundane modern reality.

C. S. Lewis removes the children from their own world in which there was one of the greatest battles ever seen. The children, disempowered by their age, couldn’t be involved in the battle. By placing them in Narnia, Lewis could empower the children in a way that they could never be in their own world.

On earth, the developing world receives many such travellers. Westerners suddenly find themselves in a world where they too face huge challenges and battle against great forces, but they also have immense purpose and effect. Perhaps we need to step out of the world in which we feel disempowered and into one where we can have a huge and heroic effect. This could be when we step out of our front door, throw the proverbial starfish back into the sea or get off a plane in the ‘3rd world’.

New Year’s resolutions to do better or a hope that the G8 will achieve an end to poverty, do not satisfy the human need to play an integral part in our worlds’ battle against evil and injustice. Instead we need to achieve our part and see our achievement.

The wardrobe is the point where the two worlds touch, it’s the access point where the two ‘realities’ meet. It’s not just about finding such an opening; it’s about having the courage to walk through it and take on the sacrifices that will be found on the other side. So whichever wardrobe you find, what will you do?
 
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