The Coming Hour...

He went to the Door and they all followed him. He raised his head and roared "Now it is the time!" then louder "Time"; then so loud that it could have shaken the stars. "TIME!" The Door flew open.--The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

There is coming a time when Christ will return, this world shall pass away and all things will be made new. Evil shall be cast off and all shall be glorious beyond our imaginations. It could happen any time. This can bring great joy to people...or great fear. Or it can bring confusion if people don't know what's going to happen then and after.

There are two paths in this life. We live in a fallen world and as long as we continue to be a part of it we will naturally fall with it. Of course, God gave us a way to salvation through His son, Jesus Christ. When we believe in him, we become not of this world, but of a kingdom greater than any other. Through this we are saved and have incredible hope. If this is truly understood, then we have no reason to fear death. Once this curtain has lifted, we'll see a world that fulfills all our dreams for eternity.

But this world will fall. And those who continue to accept it and reject the one hope of salvation are inevitably going to suffer the consequences.

"There are no ordinary people...It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendors."--The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

This should severely change our outlook on people. In fantasy it is so easy to dismiss humans as, well, ordinary, and have the fantasy folk as awesome ageless wonders. But we have immortal spirits and we're part of a celestial War between Good and Evil, one who is saving and one who is trying to drag as many people into his own doom as possible. Suddenly, being a human just got very epic.

It's sobering to comprehend the consequences of living in darkness. If one rejects the light...they're going to lose it forever.

She felt His presence sucked from her body like air--saw it leave in a whirlwind rising above her. He was gone. No! Ela staggered, fighting to breathe. The mimicry of breath she finally managed was a searing torrent of agony. She tried to raise her hands to her throat, then comprehended that even the dust the Creator had used to sculpt her kind was incapable of holding form without His Presence. 
She crumbled into the ground itself. Bereft of body, her soul collapsed in fiery torment, screaming for death and for Him. --Prophet by R.J. Larson

As Christians we're part of this War. It is our Quest to help save as many people as possible. It's difficult...it's scary to expose yourself to ridicule. Going into darkness is frightening. But it's an eternally important thing to do.

Anne Elisabeth Stengl's stories show clear, staggering images of the sorrow and destruction of Evil, but also of the incredible, redeeming power of Love. Her character, Starflower, learned to look at her worst enemy and see something to love...she saw the immortal spirit fashioned by the Creator himself. She saw a priceless gem. This was demonstrated again through different characters in Dragonwitch.

"I saw you only as the dragon, and I forgot what you were meant to be. Can you forgive me?" --Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

People are not the enemy. Oh, the Enemy works through them, there's no denying that. He can work through them in terrifying, devastating ways that leave us stunned and trembling. But even the most evil people themselves are victims--victims of their own selfish desire and their ignorant (or not) embrace of darkness.

So it is part of our Quest to reach out to those in darkness. How can we do this? It doesn't have to be obvious. You might not be the sort of person to march up to someone and proclaim the Good News. That method may not always work the best anyway (every situation is unique). But we can combat the darkness by focusing on how we're living our own lives. If we reflect the light, people are going to see it. And they might want to stamp it out, but we've got to keep going. What's a Quest without trial and attack?

I know many of you on here are writers. Wow! You've been given a marvelous gift! You know, so much of Jesus's ministry was telling stories! As Christians, we should be putting our faith into our stories. This doesn't mean you have to write a book that parallels the events of the Bible in the strictest form necessary. But it does mean we should show the light, the hope, and the beauty of Love. In some way we should reflect the Truth. Hopefully, we can stir a longing in people's hearts and help point them in the right direction. I know some of greatest encouragements have come from books. We already know the Bad Guy totally rules the popular books (glorifying darkness, immoral behavior, and spreading hopelessness). Let's get in there and fight back!

Because the Hour is coming...choices must be made...and eternity lies ahead.

Ah, eternity. I'll be talking more of that later in another post! :)