I struggle with this one too. Because I see where fear can and does drive so many of us these days when we allow that as our animating passion and even pursuit. Perfect love drives out fear. I suppose the all-important difference to be made is to note what or rather - who it is that we’re fearing. And what I hear MacDonald saying is that even fear of God can be, and often is of the much lower sort (terror) - the sort that will be driven out in the end, when the worship of the Spirit of truth has finally come into its own. But meanwhile - even the lowlier fear has its necessary (“precious”) place to impel us in that direction.
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You mentioned the other day that we can’t really take in MacDonald’s messages in our “normal frame of mind.” And this is another example.
I am often too big for my breeches, and fancy I know better how God (as well as my boss) ought to do things or simply be. As unpopular as the idea of fearing the Lord is now, I don’t see any other way sometimes, for us to understand our position and need. But if “everything is fine” and there is no need to do or be different, then what do we care about God’s love? Aren’t we already experiencing “our best life” or standing in our own way of it?
We recognize in evolutionary psychology that there are natural fears that protect us from behaviors that lead to death. I don’t think it’s so far fetched to see fear of the Lord as something preserving, until the better work can be finished.
But it’s certainly not what we would desire.
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Reminds me of Coriakin in the Dawn Treader, wishing to rule the Dufflepuds by love and reason rather than by fear and rough magic.
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“Do you intend to show yourself to them?”
“Nay… I should frighten them out of their senses.
Hmm. ; - )
[Gently, through an unmistakable M.O. is good. It can still be startling however.]
That is an excellent literary parallel, Randy. The magician seemed to them like a frightening and dangerous “deity” of sorts, not because he was, but because that was all they, in their current state, could understand. BTW - it would have been interesting to hear again from the Dufflepuds at the very end (in the Last Battle) as they enter the new paradise - and I don’t doubt they would have been well represented there. But … would they suddenly have been much more intelligent? Would love cast out ignorance and “slowness” along with fear?
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TAKE anxious care for naught…
…the peace of God
The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? - JOHN 18: 11.
…a state of perfect peace
we shall necessarily be submissive and happy in all trials
Is there an incongruity? (As loving children, we should fear God as a loving Father, not wanting to displease him by being disrespectful or disobedient.)
In what sense do (or should) we ‘fear’ a loving human father? It seems to me that if that fear is ever any fear for my own physical safety or well-being, then there must be a significant rift of distrust in my relationship with my father. It would mean that I’ve decided (or very much ‘feel’) as if I can’t trust my dad to have my own best interests in mind. Whereas a perfect trust would rest in knowing that whatever your parent does, you need not fret about it because they lovingly have your best interests in mind even if it seems unpleasant at the moment. That never (I would insist) includes them beating on you or abusing you in any way. So any fear born of that is a fear very much … not from above.
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(So no incongruities with any of the citations, just my appended comment in the last reply. ; - )
The unbeliever or those who accept God’s existence but say “Maybe later, I want to have ‘fun’ first” or “I’ll take my chances”* are the ones who should fear. The loving child should fear disappointing or grieving their Father, and themselves grieve if they have.
*Remarkably, there are such, I understand.
- [Proverbs 9:10] “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
- The Hebrew word translated into ‘awe’ in the Bible is yirah (יראה, pronounced yir-ah). It often directly translates into fear, like “fear of the Lord,” but it can also mean respect, reverence, and worship. But, make no mistake about it, yirah is strongly connected to ‘trembling’. [Source: Hebrew Meaning of Yirah: What Connects Fear and Awe?]
- What Does It Mean To FEAR God? [5:07]
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I need to finally read the rest of Narnia. I understand there are a few more volumes after the first.
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Oh, there are some great ones! It would be great to discuss them! My wife and I like “The Horse and His Boy” best, but we really enjoy “The Silver Chair” and others, too. There are 7 total–as kids, on furlough, our 4th grade Grand Rapids Christian teacher read “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” to us as a class. One of my good memories of visiting U of M med school was seeing the “Dawn Treader” bookstore.
I’d love to hear what you think.
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I’ve heard of that bookstore, but never visited it.
I’ll have to cram them in for driving listening, maybe after I finish what I just started yesterday, Reading While Black by Esau McCaulley. (So far excellent and challenging.)
I did read Lewis’s space trilogy a million years ago, when I was teaching in Vienna (Vienna Christian School) for a year. I actually didn’t like them. (Sorry, those who did.) Maybe I’d like them better now. Maybe I’d like Narnia better them Space.
I actually really enjoy the book of his letters to children. I love the way he addresses them like normal people.
I’ll try to get to Narnia sometime soon.
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I need to reread them. My first reading them was a set that came from a Church of Scotland bookstore in Glasgow eons ago (ca. 1970-71), and I had a good time reading them on a trans-Atlantic crossing on a submarine.
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wow, that would be some story! Maybe you can share some of it some time.
I would agree–Narnia is much more for children, less convoluted and more charming. I also liked Macdonald’s fairy tales- “The Princess and the Goblin,” " The Princess and Curdie," “Little Daylight,” “At the Back of the Northwind,” etc. Apparently, Mark Twain read the latter to his daughter.
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Oh my! You’re in for a treat! Give yourself permission to be a kid again and let those stories sweep you away! They are better than the Space Trilogy (in my opinion). And if you read them in their originally published order (Where Prince Caspian would be next after the Lion, Witch, Wardrobe … which I presume is the one you’ve read?) then also be patient when reading through Prince Caspian. It’s good - don’t get me wrong, but most people really like Dawn Treader and the adventures that follow that coming after. They may be kids stories, but it’s the adult “kids” that get the most out of them. Do you have any grandchildren, nephews, or nieces you could pull in? Even if not - I’d just read them just for me again (and I have many times).
-Merv
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I started “Northwind” some time ago and felt like it wasn’t going anywhere. Of you liked it, it must eventually gain direction and momentum….
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Thanks, Merv and @Randy !
Yes, I’ve read LWW. Actually, a few times. And it’s lovely. There are no young’ens accessible right now, but I have absolutely no reservations about reading juvenile literature, YA, picturebooks, board books. I don’t care. A well-written good story is a well-written good story, no matter who the target audience is. I can easily switch from Penner to Sheep in a Jeep to Kierkegaard to Long Way Down. No problem.
It’s lovely to see both of your enthusiasm for Narnia. Thank you for sharing it with me.
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