“The dwarfs are for the dwarfs.”
If you have ever read The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis then you may be familiar with that statement. There are two statements made with frequency in The Last Battle, the final installment of the series. The two statements are: 1) “Further up and further in” and 2) “the dwarfs are for the dwarfs.” As I just finished reading the series this past week, that phrase just stuck with me.
The Last Battle is the end of Narnia as we know it, but the beginning of Narnia as it really is. Throughout the chronicles the dwarfs are pictured as interesting individuals. Some are good; some are bad. But in The Last Battle we see them at their worst. Held captive by the enemies of Narnia (Calormenes), they are set free through a series of circumstances that involve Eustace and Jill (two children from our world whom we were introduced to in The Silver Chair), as well as some characters from Narnia-a prince, a unicorn, a dwarf who left the group, and others. The dwarfs are set free but there isn’t an ounce of thankfulness in their bones because “the dwarfs are for the dwarfs.” When there is a battle between the two forces, the dwarfs take part by shooting arrows at Narnian horses that had been freed. “The dwarfs are for the dwarfs.” Then they turn against the Calormenes with the same statement. Lewis even paints a fanciful scene in the new Narnia where the dwarfs are sitting in a circle in the stable and can’t see any good, including food that Aslan provides for them. Why?
“The dwarfs are for the dwarfs.” Selfishness sours a person. Nothing anyone does satisfies. When we live for ourselves, we live with a rather small package. Unlike what Jesus modeled and did. He once said,
Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mt. 20:26-28 NLT)
The dwarfs missed out on so much because they only lived for themselves. We would do well to live like Jesus did-living for and serving others.
One of my favorite book series to this day, Bill. And you are absolutely correct – living for ourselves is a shallow existence, but when we live to serve others, the world becomes a rich and rewarding tapestry of love and grace.
Blessings!
I have a few favorites too Martha. This is one of them, as is Glynn’s and someone who wrote about a squirrel. 🙂
🙂
The enemy can lure us into digging that pit of selfishness, self-pity, self absorbed unhappiness. Been there. Sometimes it just take looking up and and out to realize the pit isn’t as deep as we thought. The energy and time we can waste in that hole is sad, especially when we could redirect that energy into helping someone else rather than continuing to dig our own pit.
So very true Ryan. The longer we stay in that hole the harder it is to get out. Much better to use our energy for others. Thanks for commenting!
I am reading Amos, and Hosea right now, and it so sad how in all these years the culture really has not learned anything or changed. Without putting God first in our lives, reading His words, and following God, we can quickly fall into the trap of serving ourselves. The worst part about that is the more you serve yourself, the more the culture convinces you, that you are completely right in what your are doing. The culture blindly follows the evil one, and still claims that they are not following him. The evil one has the cultured so deceived they cannot even see how lost and self centered they are. Father help us to be Your light and to spread Your word into the darkened world.
A reading of the Minor Prophets (especially) will show us that there is nothing new under the sun. you pegged it right Gail. May we be a light in a very dark world.
As I recall, Paul confronted Peter because of the very same thing.. or close to it.
It’s kind of like the rich stay with their own, as do the poor.
It’s really a shame, because the way I see it, both could learn from one another.
Yeah Paul did confront Peter about something similar. He was fine until some Jewish believers came and began to push legalism. Then Peter backed off. Paul says, “Nope. I’ll have none of that.”