When Fairy Tales Open Our Eyes to Eternity … C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald and the Surprising Gifts of Fantasy

Oct 26

“So, we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Cor 4:18 NLT

(Click here to listen to the interview Discovering Truth in Imaginary Worlds with Kelsey Zahn or here to watch it on YouTube)

Hey friends,

Welcome back to Ep 8 of the Sanctuary Stirrings Fall series, the second of a three-episode journey through the genres as we explore the gifts God may have for us in fantasy reading.

Who doesn’t remember being shaped by fairy tales like Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Chronicles of Narnia?

So many hours spent on our mothers’ laps, or under the covers with a flashlight, stealing a few more minutes of a story that felt like it was shaping us deep inside.

But then, somewhere along the way, we stopped reading these stories.

As we applied ourselves to more serious pursuits, we turned our attention to the classics, history, and personal development.

For many of us, fantasy became a genre we largely ignored. If we’re honest, it scared us. As Christians, some of us absorbed messages that fantasy was dangerous and that we should stay away from it.

So, we do.

And in the process, we’ve missed some of the gifts God has waiting for us in imaginary kingdoms—stories that can remind us of a world more real than we can see, deepen our understanding of truth, and shape our relationship with Him and others.

Yes, discernment is needed. But if fairy tales matter for children, they matter for adults, too!

Join me for this fascinating conversation with my guest, Kelsey Zahn Melton, as we explore the surprising gifts of fantasy and consider what it might look like to return to those imaginary worlds once again.

Listen to: #66 Discovering Truth in Imaginary Worlds: The Gift of Fantasy in our Spiritual Formation with Kelsey Zahn

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When Fairy Tales Open Our Eyes to Eternity

There was once a young boy living an idyllic life.

He had two loving parents. He lived in a big, beautiful house filled with books, with limitless hours to read and romp in the Irish countryside on endless adventures with his older brother.

Until one day, when a great unhappiness descended, and everything changed. Their loving mother, who had made their house a home, got sick and died of cancer. Within weeks, their heartbroken father, who didn’t know how to relate to his two young sons or to raise them, shipped them off to boarding school.

That little boy was just nine years old. For the next several years, he suffered and tried to make sense of the world and of God.

At 15, he convinced his father to send him to his older brother’s tutor, living in a small town in England. There, the Great Knock took him under his wing, and his wife, Louisa, welcomed him into their home.

18 months later, the seventeen-year-old stopped at a used-book stall in the Leatherhead railway station. He picked up a book with an unusual title: Phantastes by Christian author George MacDonald.

An Imagination Baptized

That evening, he began reading. And over the next few days, something powerful happened, which he later described as a “baptism of his imagination.” Just as in baptism, our journey into new life begins. Stepping out of this world into a world beyond awakened his spirit to the heavenly world beyond this one.

For a moment, the chaos and suffering he had experienced lifted.

And the truth of 2 Cor 4:18 came alive:

“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

His mind floated back to the Irish countryside, to a summer day years earlier when his older brother brought him a treasure. Beaming with pride, his brother showed him a little toy garden he had created on the lid of a biscuit tin, using moss, twigs, and flowers.

Something awakened in that moment that he hadn’t experienced before. It was his first encounter with beauty. Later he described it as true joy. As quickly as it came, it vanished. Yet it left him longing for things beyond what we can see—for the eternal.

Now, as he read Phantastes, that same joy returned. It was the first step forward in his journey to the Eternal One who made moss, twigs, rocks, little boys, and the Irish countryside... and who also made imaginary worlds, kings, and kingdoms.

Through that story of good and evil, this young man knew God was holding him and this world, that suffering would not last forever, and that an eternal kingdom beyond this one awaits all who follow the King.

Years later, this young man came to faith in Jesus and went on to influence thousands, maybe even millions, in their journeys toward Christ through his speeches, radio broadcasts, and fantasy works.

The most famous of those works is The Chronicles of Narnia, where we meet one of literature’s most powerful portrayals of Christ--the good, powerful, and loving Aslan the lion.

That young boy was C.S. Lewis.

Cracking Open the Door To Fantasy

Yes, friends, fairy tales are powerful!

This year, learning Lewis’ story as I walked with George MacDonald, observing fantasy's spiritual impact on my daughter-in-law, and seeing the phenomenon of fantasy reading in the 40-and-younger generation has filled me with holy curiosity.

I’ve cracked the door open and read two of George MacDonald’s fantasy books, The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie. And something has begun to stir within me. I’ve found myself thinking more about the kingdoms we cannot see and remembering that our time on this earth is just a blip on the radar of eternity.

Three Gifts We May Be Missing

J.R.R. Tolkien, author of one of the most inspirational fantasy series of all time, The Lord of the Rings, identified three gifts of fairy tales in his famous essay On Fairy Stories. He said that through reading fairy tales:

We recover from the assault of what we can see to reclaim the greater truths of what we can’t.
We escape from all horrors, large and small, in this life.
We are consoled that justice will prevail, and a happy ending is possible in the world beyond this one.

Three gifts which we could all use more of as we journey through this life!

These are the same gifts my guest, Kelsey, shared in this week’s interview, and the ones I’ve begun to experience through my own tiny steps into fantasy this year.

My prayer is that you will receive them as well!

I'd love to hear ...

What has your relationship with fantasy reading looked like?
Is it something you’ve delved into or something you’ve been happy to avoid?
Have you ever read a story that awakened you to something beautiful, good, or eternal that you hadn't recognized before?

If you’re feeling a little holy curiosity to take the next step, let’s venture into this new territory together. And let’s pray that the Lord will open our eyes to the heavenly kingdom in greater ways than we’ve ever known!

Worth Noticing:

Worth Pondering:

A great description of what we learn through fantasy reading:

“Every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you into something a little different from what it was before.... You are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature.”

-- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So thankful to be journeying together,
Lori

Lori G. Melton