Of Consequences....

I went to see the new Narnia movie this week.... then I went again. I love all the movies, but I think The Voyage of The Dawn Treader is the best so far. I sure hope Disney finishes out the series.

I love the way C.S. Lewis tells the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in such a wonderful and magical way. Several things struck me from the movie, things that have caused me to pause and reflect on my own life, my own story. I will talk about one of them here.

There are four children that find a way into a magical world called Narnia. It is Lucy, the youngest, that first discovers Narnia, and they go on to become very important to this new world. They have several adventures and learn great lessons along the way.

In The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, Lucy is jealous of her older sister, Susan. She thinks Susan is beautiful and wants to be like her. She finds a spell that will make her look like Susan, so in secret, when no one is looking, she recites the spell and she transforms into the image of her older sister.

She finds herself being Susan, but soon discovers that in doing what she did, she erased Lucy. Because she no longer existed, her brothers no longer knew anything about Narnia, because Lucy was the one who first discovered it. Her selfish act affected more than just herself, it had far reaching consequences on those around her as well.

As she realizes her mistake she is able to become herself again, only to be asked by Aslan, "Lucy. what did you do?"

She answers him that she didn't know, she only wanted to be beautiful. She did not think all the other things would happen.

Isn't that true of all selfish acts? We think we are only affecting ourselves, in secret, and don't consider the far reaching consequences that ricochet off ourselves and cause damage to those around us.

That is what I have been struggling with... The effects of other's selfish decisions. One of those ricocheting pieces has grown into resentments in me, and festered into a rather large boil. I want very much to drain that boil, and heal those scars.

This has been my prayer for months... to be able to trust again. I have felt that prayer being answered in small pieces that I have been able to put together inside myself and integrate into my being.

Something else I did this last week was read a book called "He Restoreth My Soul: Understanding And Breaking The Chemical And Spiritual Chains Of Pornography Addiction Through The Atonement Of Jesus Christ" by Donald L Hilton Jr., M.D.

I think having that book recommended to me was another answer to this prayer. In it I found hope that those scars can be completely healed. I did believe it before, but this book gave me the ability to let that belief go deeper. The Atonement works. There are no scars it cannot heal. There is no sin, that if applied, it cannot erase.

I know I am going to be okay.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, because porn is so prevalent we cannot escape it. We are all affected. Our children WILL BE EXPOSED. The best thing we can do for ourselves is to educate ourselves about it so that we can protect our families as much as humanly possible. And with that, also educate ourselves about the miracle of the Atonement. Without the Atonement, healing simply is not possible... It is truly the only way.