The Dolphin Driven Life & Narnia

I know what you’re thinking, “Larry, you are confused. It is not the dolphin driven life that is all the rage, it is the Porpoise Driven Life.” Well, all I know is I’ve always loved dolphins - ever since Flipper. I actually got to swim with dolphins once and had one pull me as I held onto his fin for dear life. For me to swim with a dolphin was a taste of heaven when all creation will be in harmony . . . when lions, lambs, leopards and Larrys all get along.

We had another taste of heaven a few days ago in Greece. My dad worked for Delta Airlines for some 25 years resulting in my mom getting a few passes allowing us to fly for a minimal rate. Nearly 10 years ago we had planned on going to visit the Biblical city of Ephesus during a trip to Greece. Once in Athens, we had to buy airline tickets to Ephesus. To say the doors shut would be like saying . . . the doors were not open (I know there is a much more humorous, clever analogy waiting to be used here but I am still jet-lagged and my brain is slow, which really is not uncommon but at least I have an excuse now). We missed one flight due to connection time and lines. After another long line it turned out the guy sold us the wrong ticket (I took a few years of Biblical Greek in seminary but rarely does the Bible use any combination of words referring to airline tickets). During our 3^rd attempt, an employee some 5 feet from me behind the counter started convulsing, grabbed his chest and sunk to the floor. Other employees attended to him quickly and his heart attack was not fatal. At that point, I started thinking, “Maybe God doesn’t want us to go to Ephesus.” Waiting for any more signs could be dangerous! And Paul did say in Ephesians 3:20 that God wants to give us way more than we could even know to ask for or imagine. Maybe we were begging God for a $20 bill and all the time He wanted to give us a $1,000 bill.

So we decided on an alternative that we had never even heard of in the states. We had met a young lady from New Jersey who was throwing up over the side of our wind-tossed ferry as we were visiting a couple islands. She recommended an island up north called Thassos where the water was supposedly bath temperature, crystal clear, no waves and waist deep for at least 50 feet out. Now normally we don’t take advice from people who are regurgitating, but on this boat it seemed to be the “in” thing to do. I think we got the last boat before they grounded them all because of the weather. Unfortunately, Jesus was not asleep on board for us to awaken to calm the waves.

So we went up to Thassos knowing that Philippi was nearby. I actually like Paul’s letter to the Philippians better than his letter to the Ephesians anyway. When we arrived on Thassos we discovered the perfect hotel (one that actually had air-conditioning)! A few miles down the road was a beach just like the New Jersey girl had described. In addition to the warm, clear water, the sand was fine white powder and there were no hotels, high rises or buildings of any kind. Looking back to the shore from the water, the view is of an unspoiled paradise. In fact the name of the beach is Paradise Beach and it is the closest to Paradise (heaven) I have experienced on this planet (actually other planets as well, though I must confess my intergalactic travel has been rather limited).

Now zoom ahead to June 2006. We have been fortunate enough to travel all over the world, yet this would mark our first return visit to a spot we had already visited. It had been a tough year and we felt like we needed a bit of Paradise once again. We changed our travel dates because the Delta seats from my mom are standby so if the plane is full, we don’t get to go. We barely got the last 2 seats to JFK because a Delta employee standing by ahead of us agreed to sit in a ‘jump seat’ reserved for flight attendants. We contacted our favorite hotel to reserve a spot. Everything was in place to experience Paradise again . . . but you can’t get to Narnia the same way twice.

After 24 hours of exhausting travel, we plopped onto our beds in our favorite hotel looking forward to sleep. It was sweltering hot so we tried to turn on the air conditioning to discover that it did not work! This was due to the fact that the hotel does not turn it on until July, which was still a few days away. They also had brand new beds . . . which I’m certain would have been endorsed by the metal band Metallica if they had a bed deal! Needless to say, our Paradise was not as we had recalled or hoped for.

I thought of the advice the Professor gives the children at the end of “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.” “You won’t get into Narnia again by that route . . . Yes, of course you’ll get back to Narnia again some day . . . But don’t go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don’t try to get there at all. It’ll happen when you’re not looking for it.”

I think God gives us little glimpses of “heaven” to remind us this world is not our home and we do have a better place to look forward to. However, we must remember that the taste of heaven, or the experience that seems euphoric or the place that seems to transcend eternity is not the end in itself. God is the giver of all good gifts (Every good and perfect gift is from above . . . James 1:17). He wants us to find our joy, satisfaction, contentment and yes, even heaven, in Him. It is easy in this world to look to all the substitutes we manufacture and commercials flooding the airwaves with products to make our lives more enjoyable. Even the beauty of the world He has created is a reminder that HE is the source of joy, peace and love. Ultimately it does not come from boyfriends, girlfriends, money, awards, drugs, video games, or even places like Narnia or Thassos, which He does allow us to enjoy from time to time (not the drugs part).

In addition to the Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis also wrote about being “Surprised by Joy..” He said that when you put all your time, efforts and energy into trying to find ‘joy’, it eludes you. But if you spend your time and energy into finding the source of joy (namely God) then you will find joy as a by-product when you least expect it. You can’t get to Narnia by trying. Our greatest satisfaction in this life should be God Himself and not all the ‘blessings’ He may give us from time to time. Then we can say, like Paul, I have learned to be content in whatever situation I am in (even from the jail cell he was in, which we saw in Philippi on our trip - Phil. 4:11).

Our goal should be that all our hopes, dreams, desires and joys should be in God and not the things He gives to us or has created for us to enjoy. As Kristen and I were discussing all this we wondered how Paradise Beach would be some 10 years later. It was still Paradise and God is still God. His ways are still beyond my understanding, we cannot predict what He will do and He is no tame Lion that we can control. But He is good and He does love us!

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