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Shining Distractions

In the powerful closing chapters of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia series, the old Narnia in all its wonder and beauty was being swept away to make way for the new Narnia, perfect and eternal. The kings and queens of old had all been called back to Narnia from earth so they might forever rule in paradise with Aslan.

All except one. One queen was missing.

“Where is Queen Susan?” Tirian asked.

“My sister Susan,” answered Peter shortly and gravely, “is no longer a friend of Narnia.”

“Oh Susan!” said Jill. “She’s interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations.”

Susan, it seems, was so captivated by the lovely things of this world that when the moment came for her to permanently take her place as queen in the new Narnia, she could no longer hear Aslan’s call.*

Just like Susan, we are so easily distracted by a world that is filled to the brim with things to do, places to go, and amazing things to see. Even on a recent trip to one of the poorest barrios in the Dominican Republic, I saw satellite dishes on corrugated iron roofs. Western entertainment was flooding into homes that often struggled to put food on the table.

Is it any wonder we find it challenging to hear the still, small voice of God when we are surrounded by so many bright and shiny distractions, so many buttons to push, so many screens to swipe and posts to like?

If you’re like me, there have been times when you’ve picked up your phone or turned on the television planning to spend just a few minutes in front of the screen, only to be shocked later by how much time had slipped right by.

Too many times I’ve finally gotten myself to shut off the phone or television, wishing I had spent my time differently. But I have never regretted a single second I have spent in the presence of my heavenly Father.

I’m sure the same goes for you. So today, choose to spend time with the One who will bring you more joy and peace than anything else in this world.

The light of Christ shines brighter than anything this world has to offer.

* C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle (New York: HarperCollins, 1956), 54.