Welcome: About This Blog

At the end of The Last Battle, the final volume of The Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan returns in Narnia's final hour. As the world ends, he opens a door that leads into a world, much like Narnia but bigger and better. Aslan's Country. Heaven. As the door shuts once and for all on Narnia Aslan calls to those who've followed him through the door, "Come further in! Come further up!"

They do. As they explore Aslan's country they find inside it yet another door. They go through it and discover another country on the other side, bigger and better than what they've just passed through. And so it continues. The further they go into Aslan's Country the better it becomes. There is no end to it and each time it seems to be as good as it could possibly be, it gets better still.

This passage is one of my favorites in any book I've read. Not just Narnia, any book. It's one of the most beautiful pictures of Heaven and the infinity of God that the human mind has ever come up with. That in itself is pretty neat but I believe we can take this a step further than the story. We need not wait until Aslan comes for us. I believe God calls us to this kind of adventure right now! When Jesus speaks about life, He certainly is making a promise for the future but no where do I find him saying we're out of luck for the hear and now. John 14:18 reads, "No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you." Aside from going deeper into the theology of all that, I can tell you from my personal journey that this is true. Jesus does offer healing. He does offer life. And it is available now, in this life!

For as great as that sounds (and is!) it can be tough. It requires us to regularly put aside all we've clung to in this world and embrace nothingness so God can give us everything. It demands we let go of all the neat stuff we've learned and take the mind of a child so we can learn from the Father. It invites us to take that first step out of the boat and walk on the water even (especially) when we know it's impossible. That's not easy. But it's worth it.

This blog will touch on a lot of different things. I have lots of different interests: reading, writing, history, politics, faith, music, sports, movies. I'll be posting on all of them at some point and I'm hopeful we can get some good discussion going on those and other topics. If you're interested in what I'm reading or have read recently check out the widgets on my sidebar. If you're passing through and you've got similar interests to what I'm talking about feel free to drop me a line at bendebono@gmail.com

More than anything I hope this blog can be a place for me and my readers to share the journey as we listen to the voice of the master calling us further up and further in.

The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.
-Aslan, The Last Battle