Watchman on the Wall

Southwest Radio Ministries: Welcome to Watchman on the Wall, a daily outreach of Southwest Radio Ministries and swrc.com. God is still on the throne and prayer changes things. Today, author Reggie Weems continues to introduce us to the fairy godmother of Narnia. And then a little later, Greg Patton will be here to help us as we live in today's world.

Friends, it's the final day of March and we need your help. Giving this month has been running a little low and we need to hear from you. So please pray and support Watchman on the Wall with a gift today. Help us finish March strong. Visit swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144. Please give your best gift today. swrc.com. Thank you. Here's today's host, Clayton Van Huss, ready to once again visit the land of Narnia with author Reggie Weems.

Clayton Van Huss: We are back in the studio with Pastor Reggie Weems. Reggie, we're so glad to have you here. Welcome.

Reggie Weems: My joy. Thank you. It's just an honor to come and talk about a favorite subject of mine.

Clayton Van Huss: And that favorite subject, in case you weren't here yesterday, this favorite subject is C.S. Lewis and the influences that led to his writing of the Narnia series and many other things in his life. But especially there, we're focusing. Pastor Weems here has written several books. He's got a series, the Jack and Lizzie Adventure series, about young C.S. Lewis and his nanny, Jack and Lizzie, and all of the influences that lead to Narnia.

These are beautiful children's books. Your new one is *The Fairy Godmother of Narnia* and the illustrations are beautiful. It's a great thing to read to your child when they're going to bed.

Reggie Weems: My hope is that children will read them and then go to Ireland and say, "I've seen that somewhere before. I remember that." In fact, the books will give them the desire to go. I have a tendency to send Amy, who illustrates the book, pictures that I take when I go there, or I'll send her an internet link and say, "Hey, look at this. This will give you a sense of."

The pictures are really demonstrative of what the island is like. They're not made up just out of my or Amy's imagination. They're really based on what the places look like, what the geography looks like, the directions. All of those things are extremely important. Many readers are Irish, so I have to be exact about those things or they'll call me out on them.

Clayton Van Huss: Of course. And we talked a little bit about that earlier before we got in here, just about the importance of that sort of thing. Now, you mentioned something that harkens back to something else. You mentioned you hope that kids will read the book, go there and say, "I've seen this." But also, you mentioned to me earlier that C.S. Lewis had hopes for his books, that there would be a recognition, that they would see Christ, they would see the Bible in his series. Can you tell me a little about that?

Reggie Weems: One of the reasons Tolkien didn't like, and he ultimately approved of the *Chronicles of Narnia*, but one of the reasons he didn't like it was he said the Christianity was too obvious. Which is very interesting because a New York critic by the name of Laura Miller has written a book called *The Magician's Book*. She read the books when she was a child and then when she became an adult, she realized that Lewis was attempting to convey Christianity through the books and she felt betrayed.

She wrote an entire book about this experience and validating even further that yes, that was Lewis's attempt. From creation to new creation, he tells the story of the Bible in the seven *Chronicles of Narnia*. He said things like, "If preachers were doing their job, I would be out of a job." He felt when he was a young child in Ireland that pastors and churches made God very distant. They made Christianity cold and unfeeling.

What he wanted to do was tell Christianity in a story that would excite people to where they would say, "This is beautiful. Where can I know more? This is wonderful." Of course, the end is that people would come to know Christ as their Savior. He publicly acknowledged this in letters and writings, things of this nature. So that was his whole intent in doing this really was to share the gospel that had shaped him and do it in the way of storytelling.

Clayton Van Huss: That is great. I love what you've done here. Let's talk about the first book, *Looking for Narnia*. Let's just take a moment to do that, to give us a little bit of a background. So this is a book for children. It's beautifully illustrated as we've already mentioned. I don't know why I keep going back to the illustrations.

Reggie Weems: The illustrations are important because Ireland is such a mythical land. Narnia is such a mythical land, if you will. The illustrations convey sentiment, they convey emotion, they convey truth. The illustrations are extremely important. Amy does a wonderful job of illustrating the various places and things. The illustrations are a real part of the book.

Clayton Van Huss: I think she captures that essence. I think I've mentioned that the illustrations are soft and they do have this kind of Irish feel to them. I'm not just talking about the places, but I can see that also. So what is that first book, *Looking for Narnia*? What story does that tell and why is that important for our children?

Reggie Weems: It really tells the story of C.S. Lewis, or Jack. The third book will explain why he changed his name, when and how he changed his name. But the first book introduces him. That's important because as various authors and scholars and critics have acknowledged, the child is the father to the man.

In other words, our childhood really forms us. Some people try to ignore their childhoods, some people try to abandon their childhood, some people try to forget their childhood, but the fact of the matter is our childhoods make us. They're extremely formative. Things that occur in our childhood may germinate in our mind, even be lost in there, only to be awakened at a later date.

That's exactly what happened to C.S. Lewis. His childhood was a repository of memories and experiences of places, of colors. He was an avid reader. When he got to Oxford, he passed for a particular degree, I think the degree was in English at that point, I'm not sure which one it was, but he passed it so quickly. One of the reasons he did is because he'd already read all the books.

He was an avid reader. He said that books in Little Lea, the second home in which his family lived, had books everywhere. They were stacked on the staircase, they were double and triple. He said nothing was forbidden me. I read things he said I shouldn't have read because my parents were avid readers and books were everywhere.

So you just take all of that that he'd read and then the experiences that he had with the mythical beauty of Ireland. You put all of that together, then you insert a storytelling nurse and it's like the perfect storm just waiting to happen. So the first book is about introducing Lewis because reading the *Chronicles of Narnia* is to read the life of C.S. Lewis.

I'm writing a book right now on the biblical theology of Lewis and one of the chapters demonstrates how he lived each book of the *Chronicles of Narnia*, how it worked out in his life. So that's the point of the first book. I think when you read a book, I tell my people in my pastorate and people whom I meet and people with whom I converse, never read a book, always read the author because books are subjective.

Every author has an agenda, there's a point to the writing. If you don't understand that and appreciate that, you can receive something without recognizing a falsehood without knowing it. Knowing the author is extremely important to reading any series. That's why I wanted to take the time to introduce Jack.

Who is he? Where does he come from? What's he all about? What formed him? World War I, the loss of his mother, the disenchantment from his father at nine. He's exiled from this land that he loved and sent to a foreign country, England. He said, "I couldn't understand the accents. I hated the geography." There was nothing that he liked about England when he first got there.

And yet ultimately, he ends up living most of his life there. For that reason, people assume constantly that he's English, but he's not. Even late into his life, Lewis was reminding people, "I am Irish," because that meant so much to him and to his writing. To understand his writing, you have to understand his Irishness.

Clayton Van Huss: Absolutely. To look at the man, to understand the man. So you mentioned agendas. Every writer has an agenda. Now, you're a writer. What's your agenda with these books?

Reggie Weems: My agenda is the same as Lewis's, if you will. He wrote so that children might say when they met Jesus, "I've met you somewhere before." That's the point of this series, is to introduce children and moms and dads to Jesus. Let me be upfront. I'm so sorry because it may turn some people off from the series, but the whole point of the series is to introduce people to Christ.

Christ is the great myth personified. He's the great myth made real. All of the stories that we've ever longed for and wanted and said, "That's wonderful. That's beautiful. How could we obtain that? Isn't that great?" That's Jesus. He's the culmination of that. Pagan myths are just incomplete gospels. We've always got eternity in our hearts.

We've always longed for God. So we write stories, but because we don't know the true God, that's where Roman myth comes from, Greek myth comes from. All pagan myth is pointing to God. It just never gets there because it doesn't know God. It's incomplete about the Lord. But if you follow it through, it creates a longing in you.

"I want to know this God. I want to know this story. I want to know how this ends." That's the gospel and that's Jesus. So that may sound complex, but that's behind a Jack and Lizzie Adventure. It's to introduce children and parents to the greatest story ever told and the greatest person ever known, Jesus Christ our Savior.

Clayton Van Huss: And if I'm not mistaken, C.S. Lewis referred to this as the "True Myth."

Reggie Weems: That's exactly what he said. It's the True Myth.

Clayton Van Huss: And I want to unbox that a little in a minute, but first, if you're listening, we're talking with Pastor Reggie Weems. We're talking about his book series, Jack and Lizzie Adventure. We're now on book two, *The Fairy Godmother of Narnia*. The original is *Looking for Narnia*.

And these two books give background to what's coming next. You can get these books here at Southwest Radio Ministries. You can give us a call at 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144. You can visit us online at swrc.com. I think these are great books. These are wonderful gifts for children, gifts for parents with children.

Introduce children to being excited about learning about the true myth, about learning about Jesus Christ. Now, we say the True Myth because when we think of myth, we think of false and lies. Can you explain a little about True Myth before we get into the Fairy Godmother?

Reggie Weems: Lewis was turned off from God in the Christian religion when his mother died and God didn't rescue his mother. Then he went through a series in life when he was exiled from Ireland to English boarding schools. He was influenced by teachers there who were atheists. He was already angry with God.

He was going through situations in life for which he had no answers. His dad lives in another island, not another country necessarily, but Ireland's another country, but it's part of the UK. He has no resources. So by the time he turns 13, he embraces atheism. He was always an uncomfortable atheist, however. It was never really something that he was settled in.

He tried to refute anything mythical, he tried to refute anything supernatural. He said, "No, all that is is what the five senses can tell. That's it." And yet God kept breaking into his life through various things and really using pagan myth, if you will, because he loved pagan myth. He spent this whole period of his life from 13 to 18.

He stepped onto the ground in France on his 18th birthday in World War I. But between that time of 13 to 18, he's this uncomfortable atheist who doesn't want to search, he doesn't want to look, he doesn't want to ask the questions. He's trying to fight against the questions, fight against the supernatural. And yet God is breaking through.

He has all of this history of myth in his life that God continues to bring to his heart. So when he talks about it being the True Myth, myth is indeed, all myth is based on the gospel. That's what Tolkien believed. Here's what Lewis said. Lewis said, "Wait a minute, there's this story of the dying God in every culture in the world. So that proves that Christianity isn't real because there's a form of Christianity, a dying God, in every religion of the world."

Tolkien said, "Why do you think that is?" He said, "That is because there is an original true story that as the world populated and people went to various places, they were oral storytellers and the story migrated to different names and different actions and different events, but it all comes from one true story." Lewis had never seen that before.

There was one true story back behind all the myth, you see. They were just derivations of the gospel. So Lewis came to call it the True Myth. All the myth has come true in the person of Jesus Christ.

Clayton Van Huss: That is amazing. Let's talk a little bit about Lizzie because this is Jack and Lizzie. We know Jack. Who is Lizzie? And tell us a little bit about your Lizzie theory. Now, you're a scholar. You've written, you've published through peer-reviewed articles. You're a known C.S. Lewis scholar. This isn't just some guy who wrote a book.

Reggie Weems: In the first chapter of his autobiography, *Surprised by Joy*, Lewis introduces Lizzie in a 137-word biography, just 137 words. But he introduces Lizzie before he even introduces Warnie, who is his best friend forever. He was writing the *Chronicles of Narnia* at the same time he was writing *The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe*, at the same time he was writing his autobiography.

I have a sense that writing *The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe* brought memories of Lizzie, who was his storytelling nurse. She'd introduced him to some of these myths, these ideas, these thoughts. This is why he includes Lizzie in the first chapter of his autobiography, because he's thinking about her as he writes the *Chronicles of Narnia*.

Just 137 words. It captured my imagination. I just said, "Who is this woman who was the first myth-teller to C.S. Lewis? What was their relationship like? What influence did she really have?" So I hired a genealogist, an English woman who lives in Ireland near Castlerock, where Lewis had holidayed on three occasions.

I hired a woman to research Lizzie Endicott for me and she did the most fantastic job of giving me all of this research on Lizzie Endicott. Over the course of about two to three years, I found a great-grandson of Lizzie who introduced me to Lizzie's granddaughters, his mother being one of them.

I have a video recorded interview on my iPhone that's worth more than my iPhone, sitting with Lizzie's granddaughters as they talked about her and their life with her and what she was all about. So that's where it all started. This 137-word biography of Lizzie in the first chapter of Lewis's autobiography, *Surprised by Joy*, and just this research.

The more I read, the more I discovered that Lizzie had a profound influence in his life. She traveled with him to Castlerock, where he changed his name on that first holiday. Two years old, on the 29th, 30th or 31st of July 1901. One of those days is when he changed his name and we know it from letters.

His mother called him by a different name on the 28th of July in a letter she wrote to her husband. Then in September, Warnie makes the ever first reference and says, "Jacksie." His parents are vacationing in Scotland and Lizzie and her sister Charlotte are keeping Jack and Warnie at home. Warnie writes to his parents in Scotland and says, "Jacksie and I are doing well."

First time the name's ever mentioned. Warnie said as an adult, he changed his name on a holiday. "I know that for a fact." The 28th of July, his mother, Flora, refers to him by his baby name, Babs, which Lewis never liked, Babs. Refers to him by that name. In September, Warnie's calling him Jacksie and Warnie said he changed it on a holiday.

That's the only holiday before that time. So he must have changed his name on one of those days. For me, it's just very interesting. Jacksie's a common name. It's like John in America. Jacksie's a very common name in Ireland and in the UK. I just like the idea that Jacksie rhymes with Lizzie. And it was Lizzie who would take him to the train station there in Castlerock where he and Warnie would play on the trains, get to meet the train drivers.

My theory is that it was probably a train driver whose name was Jacksie and he so loved trains. Warnie said that vacation was their favorite time of year and riding on trains was their favorite thing to do. On rainy days in Castlerock, it rains quite a bit in Ireland, they would go to the train station, play under the platform.

There was a rock quarry right behind Castlerock. The trains would have to stop there waiting for trains coming in and out. Lizzie would use that opportunity to get them on the train because she knew the train drivers, let them tour the train, pull the whistle, those kinds of things. So it just fits that this is where he would have met someone, a train driver by the name of Jacksie.

His cousin, when the *Chronicles of Narnia* movies came out, affirmed that he'd named himself after a train driver. When you put all the facts together, all the history together, it just points to this incredible influence that Lizzie Endicott had in the life of C.S. Lewis.

Clayton Van Huss: That is amazing. Pastor Weems, I've got to thank you so much for joining us these last two days, telling us this. I am excited about this whole series and looking deeper as the new books come out. Just one last little bit before we go. Tell us why a child should be reading or being read your books.

Reggie Weems: A child should read because Jesus is the Word. A child should read because Christianity is a word-based religion. It's not a religion, it's a relationship, but it's a word-based religion. Reading is essential for a child to know the law of God, to know God, to obey God. This is where we meet Jesus, in the Gospels.

All reading ought to lend itself toward an introduction of God and his world, who Jesus is, what God is doing in the world. That's what this book series does. It simply introduces a child to reading and then in the process of reading, to reading about Jesus in a fictional format, if you will, in this Jack and Lizzie Adventure series through these particular books.

So that's why I think it's important. A child's early imagination, early thinking processes can be formed toward the gospel by reading this series.

Clayton Van Huss: It's very exciting the series is, like you said, fiction, but it's all based in a reality. Dr. Weems, thank you so much for joining us.

Reggie Weems: My joy.

Southwest Radio Ministries: In *The Fairy Godmother of Narnia*, author Reggie Weems takes readers behind the scenes of C.S. Lewis's imagination and introduces us to a nearly forgotten figure who helped shape it all: Lizzie Endicott, young Jack Lewis's devoted nanny and master storyteller. Long before Narnia had a name, Lizzie filled Jack's childhood with wonder.

Through her kindness, creativity, and vivid tales, she planted seeds that would one day bloom into fauns, lions, and enchanted lands. Lewis would later remember her fondly in *Surprised by Joy*, and her influence echoes throughout the characters and themes of Narnia.

This beautifully written and illustrated book uncovers the real-life inspiration behind Lewis's fantasy world and celebrates the quiet, powerful role of a woman who changed literary history, not with fame, but with faithfulness, imagination, and love.

Discover the woman behind the wardrobe. See Narnia through the eyes of its first storyteller. Revisit the magic with a deeper sense of meaning. Your children and grandchildren will love this book. Order *The Fairy Godmother of Narnia* today. Call 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144.

You can also order *The Fairy Godmother of Narnia* by visiting swrc.com. If you love the *Chronicles of Narnia*, this book will open a new door in your heart, straight into the true story of how Narnia began. *The Fairy Godmother of Narnia*. 1-800-652-1144.

If I'm being really good and trying to be an example of Christ, will I be free of all those troubles that come to mankind? As a father, Greg Patton says he always wants the best for his children. Doesn't God want the best for his? Let's find out.

Greg Patton: Question: Why do bad things happen to good people? You ever heard that one before? There aren't any easy answers. Jesus teaches there's not always a direct link between misfortune and sin, and even calamity is a wake-up call for all of us today, isn't it? Debunking the just world theory.

How do you do that? In a recent comic strip some time back, a boy asks his dad, "Why can't I stay up late? You guys can." Then with a wide-mouthed protest he declared, "It's just not fair!" His dad replies, "The world isn't fair, son." Walking away with a sour look on his face, the boy says, "I know, but why isn't it ever unfair in my favor?"

And I've got to ask you today, do you ever feel like that boy? Sometimes veterans with PTSD suffer from life being unfair. In therapy, they struggle with something called the Just World Myth, which says that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. And that sounds nice and neat and we've got it all tidied up with a big red bow here.

That's just perfect, right? Actually, we all start developing this myth the moment we're old enough to get into trouble. A toddler reaches for the stovetop and a mother slaps her hand and says "No!" Or a kid starts toward the street and a father says "No!" loudly. In both examples, the lesson is that if you do the wrong thing you will be hurt.

And if you do the right thing, you'll be spared from hurt. Parents seek to shape their child's behavior to keep them safe, right? I mean, that makes sense. And then we grow up, and we keep thinking if I do the right thing I won't be hurt, but if I do the wrong thing I'm going to get hurt.

At some point, we learn it doesn't always work that way in life. Several years ago, a teacher that my grandkids just loved here at Forest Park was shot to death. You could hear so many adults throughout the city and in our area here describe the anger they felt over this untimely death.

How unfair such a good guy to lose his life. This fellow was bright, resourceful, certainly compassionate, energetic, full of life, full of faith. How tragic to be cut down in your youth. Bad things sometimes happen to good people. This was a very good people. All kinds of questions come up in times of tragedy, and they're the same questions that were asked back in Jesus's day.

The question is not why good people get murdered. No, this person I mentioned who was murdered, some people in Jesus's day believed that if a person died under horrible circumstances, well, they must have deserved it. There was something wrong with their life.

The case involved Pilate, who was known to be downright cruel in his treatment of the Jews. You can read Luke chapter 13 verses one through nine. It says here in verses one through 3A: "There were some present at the time who told Jesus about the Galilean whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?'"

Here's a thought. If you're walking today in step with God, then it doesn't matter when you die. Dying for the believer is simply the final promotion. To be absent from the body to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8. Death has lost its sting. We are immediately transformed in the presence of Jesus when we die.

So we can welcome death when it comes because we've already repented. C.S. Lewis wrote this: "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world." Pray about that one, my friend. Trust this has been a helpful devotion for you this day.

Southwest Radio Ministries: In *The Fairy Godmother of Narnia*, author Reggie Weems takes readers behind the scenes of C.S. Lewis's imagination and introduces us to a nearly forgotten figure who helped shape it all: Lizzie Endicott, young Jack Lewis's devoted nanny and master storyteller.

This beautifully written and illustrated book uncovers the real-life inspiration behind Lewis's fantasy world and celebrates the quiet, powerful role of a woman who changed literary history, not with fame, but with faithfulness, imagination, and love. Your children and grandchildren will love this book.

Order *The Fairy Godmother of Narnia* today. When you call 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144. You can also order *The Fairy Godmother of Narnia* online. Simply visit swrc.com. If you love the *Chronicles of Narnia*, this book will open a new door in your heart, straight into the true story of how Narnia began. *The Fairy Godmother of Narnia*. 1-800-652-1144.

Tomorrow, we explore the ancient flood legends from around the world that point to the global flood of the Bible. Be sure to tune in. Watchman on the Wall is a production of Southwest Radio Ministries and is supported by faithful friends like you. To learn more, visit swrc.com.