"I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you." (C.S. Lewis, A Horse and His Boy, p. 165).
To give this quote some context, allow me to say that this particular lion, known as Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, has just began walking alongside one of the characters, Shasta, listening to Shasta's struggles and hardships. He then begins explaining to Shasta all of the events that have happened to him over the past several weeks, even his life with the new information that he was in fact the lion that was guiding his journey. The last sentence reveals to Shasta that his father is not in fact his true father. Before hearing the lion's explanation, each of these events had frightened and confused Shasta along his journey, but suddenly, even mysteriously the lion reveals the answers to him. These moments that Shasta previously perceived as trials are now seen as moments of encounter, even protection and guidance from Aslan. This is often the case in spiritual journeys. We encounter difficulties, events that confuse or frustrate our plans and we discount them as random circumstances. However, often in retrospect we begin to see how each moment has shaped our present. Every hurdle in our journey is driven by some force that culminates in some victory, even if the victory is not yet grasped. A true spiritual journey incorporates even defeats and hardships and weaves them into the fabric of the pilgrim's experience.
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