"Behold I make all things new."

                                                            Revelation 21:5

I believe being at home for the last six months is starting to wear on folks and fray nerves. People are anxious to get out and about again, but the disease is still out there, and it is still dangerous.

In some ways, this quarantine has been like one long winter. Sure, the sun may be shining outside, but it may as well be thirty degrees and snowing because we feel trapped inside.

As I realized this, it made me think about C.S. Lewis’ series of books called The Chronicles of Narnia. Most folks are probably more familiar with the movie these days. My favorite book in the series is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. At one point in the book, when the Pevensie children first arrive in Narnia, they discover a curse is on the land. And that curse is that it is always winter - but never Christmas. Imagine that scenario for a child! Or an adult!

But then the children begin to hear some mysterious, thrilling, earth-shaking news: Aslan (he’s a lion who is the only character in all the books in the series and he’s described as the “King of all Kings” – yes, he’s metaphorically analogous to Jesus Christ) is on the move. The great king is back. He’s returned and he’s hard at work and what he has planned will change everything.

And it comes to pass. Winter gives way to spring; the snow melts; the ice breaks; the cold breaks; and things begin to bloom. Life returns to Narnia.

We’re all looking for something to break. For a vaccine. A cure. Anything. Because until something happens, we feel cursed with a perpetual “winter” of isolation from each other.

If you’re looking for a way to get through the “winter” of Covid-19, I’d recommend reading The Chronicles of Narnia. There is hope and promise throughout the series. And I’d also recommend reading the gospels of Jesus Christ. You’ll find the stories very similar, and you see that same hope and promise of a new tomorrow when the “winter of Covid” has passed and life begins to bloom anew.

Aslan kept his promise. So will Jesus Christ. Winter won’t last forever, and soon, the sun of health and a new spring will shine again.

"Father, Thank you for reminding us that today is but a passing moment in time, and that you make all things new.  In Jesus' name, AMEN."

Grace,

Rev. Dan