Day 2 - Sacrifice

I have always loved this movie and the books from which it came.  The Christology and Christian elements always made me smile.  Even after my seminary journey, I can still appreciate the beauty of the movies, even with a slightly different theological perspective.  I watched this movie last night so that I could prepare to show it to the kids in Children's Church, and the same part of the movie struck me as always.  The video above covers the conversation/the reason for the sacrifice, the sacrifice itself, and the end result.  And the lines in the movie that accompany it are gold.  The White Witch has this to say just before she kills Aslan: "You know, Aslan, I'm a little disappointed in you. Did you honestly think by all this that you could save the human traitor? You are giving me your life and saving no one. So much for love. Tonight, the Deep Magic will be appeased, but tomorrow, we will take Narnia forever! In that knowledge, despair... and die!"  She sees his love and sacrifice as stupid, and she's plotted to use his death as her means of victory.
Yet, as in the Christian story, the innocent laying down his life is resurrected, and Aslan explains his resurrection this way: "If the Witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the deep magic differently. That when a willing victim who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor's stead, the stone table will crack, and even death itself would turn backwards."  In my mind, this speaks to the power of Love.  Whether you're a Christian or not, you have to admit that Jesus had a lot of love to do what he did.  Whether his love was for humanity and he was dying for their sins, his love was for God and his death was part of the path that his call took him on, or his love was for his people and he, like MLK, was willing to lay down his life for his cause, what he did was out of immense love.  When Love is this great, it has the power to topple even death, which is why Aslan came back to life as Jesus did. 
That kind of love doesn't typically show itself in modern times.  We've instead become selfish and self-centered, doing things only after we've figured out the benefits that they hold for us.  Now, I'm not suggest we catch grenades for people or anything like that, but I am suggesting that love does involve some level of sacrifice, even if it's just abiding someone's annoying quirk in order to remain in relationship with that person.  When we are willing to love even past people's faults, that love can create a power that even death cannot destroy.  It can also confirm the adage "love conquers all," because love can cause some amazing things to happen.
As I close this reflection, I ask you to think about the things you may need to give up in order to let love live and flourish in your life.  Maybe you want people to be perfect before you love them... maybe your past hurts and fears are standing in the way of you giving/receiving love... maybe you want your way so much so that you refuse to compromise and meet someone halfway...  Whatever the case may be, take time to see what you might need to sacrifice in order to gain/give love.  [Note: I am not saying to sacrifice yourself, your dignity, your integrity, or anything like that for love. I'm a proponent of remaining true to yourself and of loving yourself fully so that loving others doesn't come out of a deficit.  What I am saying is that your need for a mate to be 6'5, driving a Lexus, and fluent in 4 languages may need to be sacrificed...]
Much love!