The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | Chapter 2: What Lucy Found There

Chapter Summary: 

The Faun introduces himself to Lucy as Mr. Tumnus, asks whether Lucy is a Daughter of Eve, and asks where she has come from. Lucy says that she is human, and has come from the wardrobe in the spare room. Mr. Tumnus then invites Lucy to tea in his home. The two walk arm-in-arm until they reach Mr. Tumnus's home, which is in a small cave.

Mr. Tumnus prepares food and tea, and then tells Lucy stories from Narnia. Suddenly (hours later), Mr. Tumnus cries inconsolably for a length of time. He finally admits that he is in the service of the White Witch, and that he had been instructed to kidnap any Son of Adam or Daughter of Eve he might meet in the woods, and deliver him/her to the White Witch. Mr. Tumnus explains that the White Witch keeps Narnia in perpetual winter, and holds all of Narnia in a great deal of fear and in her control.

Despite being certain that the White Witch would find out, Mr. Tumnus agrees to bring Lucy back to the lamppost in the woods so that she can return home. The two stealthily return, and Lucy goes back through the wardrobe, announcing to her siblings that she has returned.

Reflection:

This chapter has me thinking about changes of heart and major life decisions. From reading the chapter, it seems that Mr. Tumnus is not really the type of creature to follow the orders of the White Witch and kidnap little girls--but he has chosen to do so, most likely because he is terrified. (Can anyone say Nazi influence?) What catches Mr. Tumnus off guard and makes him unable to complete the kidnapping is that Lucy ends up being a very kind, compassionate creature. (And the more Mr. Tumnus cries, the more compassionate Lucy becomes.)

The whole episode is rather upsetting to Mr. Tumnus, and understandably so. He is genuinely concerned that the White Witch will discover his transgression if he helps Lucy escape--he notes that the White Witch has spies all throughout the forest, and that even some of the trees are aligned with her. He truly believes that he will almost certainly be discovered, and subjected to torture (or worse) by the Witch. As a result, Mr. Tumnus's decision to help Lucy escape is most definitely a change of heart, and most certainly a significant life decision.

Now that you can see how this topic connects, I can connect it to my own experience. Here is something not many people know about me--I make important life decisions (and changes of heart) incredibly fast. Everything I have read tells me that this is impulsive, dangerous, and concerning behavior, but it has really only come to bite me in the butt once or twice (and I've never been incarcerated so I guess they weren't that bad). But in general, the decisions I have made have quickly resulted in positive outcomes.

While I can't (won't) share all of the major life decisions I've made, I can definitely share a few. Here's one: When I was a rising-senior at Baylor in July of 2010, it took me only 3 days--less than 36 hours--from the time that I knew what Student Affairs was to the time that I decided I wanted to go to graduate school in Student Affairs and build a career in that field. Here's another one: I knew within 2 hours of being on the Baylor campus in September of 2005 that I wanted to attend Baylor. And another one: The average time I have taken to accept job offers is about 45 minutes. One more: When I first started attending church in Waco in August of 2006, I knew from the first time I attended that this was the church I wanted to go to. During my 4 years at Baylor, I never went to another church (ironically I've been to 4 different churches in the last 4 weekends here in Waco).

There are plenty of other examples, but those will suffice. I'm not sure what it is--I think perhaps I just know what I want before I begin the process of looking. For instance, I knew that I wanted a career where I could help others but still make enough money to support a family, and as soon as I knew that I could do that by remaining on college campuses and working with students, I was pretty much sold on that idea. Perhaps I'm impulsive, but perhaps I just know myself rather well (if many of my decisions had resulted in negative circumstances, I might disagree with that statement, but most of them do not).

And what's funny is that I can't share my best examples of the major life decisions I've made, since they are a little more on the private (non-internet) side of things, but suffice to say that a majority of those have had positive outcomes as well. Let's hope that Mr. Tumnus's major decision works out just as well for him.