Tonight a friend mentioned the Chronicles of Narnia; particularly Aslan and the great metaphor he provides of the hard gentleness of our God. That immediately made me think of one of my favorite songs. (A word of gratitude is due to that friend for reminding me of it tonight; I needed to remember.) A different friend introduced me to it last fall, and I loved it immediately. These are the sorts of truths that are hard enough to be undamaged no matter how often you beat your head against them, and soft enough that you can curl up upon them and sleep like a tiny child. So here are the lyrics:
Don’t stop your crying, on my account,
A frightening lion, no doubt.
He’s not safe, no he’s not safe;
Are you tempted now to run away?
The King above all kings is coming down.
But he won’t say the words you wish that he would;
Oh, he won’t do the deeds you know that he could;
He won’t think the thoughts you think that he should,
But he is good, he is good.
I know you’re thirsty; the water is free.
But I should warn you, it costs everything.
He’s not fair, no, he’s not fair,
When he fixes what’s beyond repair,
And graces everyone that don’t deserve.
He won’t say the words you wish that he would;
Oh, he won’t do the deeds you know that he could;
He won’t think the thoughts you think that he should,
But he is good, he is good.
No one knows him whom eyes never seen;
No, I don’t know him, but he knows me.
Lay down your layers; shed off your skin.
But without his incision, you can’t enter in.
He cuts deep, yeah, he cuts deep,
When the risk is great and the talk is cheap,
But never leaves a wounded one behind.
He won’t say the words you wish that he would;
Oh, he won’t do the deeds you know that he could;
He won’t think the thoughts you think that he should,
But he is good, he is good.
-“Aslan,” Kendall Payne on Grown
Between Blue Rocks 
I just watched the old Silver Chair with my little brother last week. Now, he spent far too much time making fun of the fact that Aslan was a lion suit (the best lion suit I’ve ever seen), but I did enjoy an aspect I had forgotten if I had noticed it in reading (in fact, I remember I did notice it now) — Jill coming to the stream — “If you’re thirsty, come and drink.” “Will you eat me if I do? (Do you eat people, something like that)” “Oh, I have swallowed up boys and girls, men and women, kings and kingdoms.”
That is what the second verse reminds me of. Probably rightly so.
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Wow….and Amen.
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