Untame Lion

This post commemorates my first read of The Magician's Nephew, the sixth book in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I would recommend it to anyone! It is my favorite of all of them so far (The Silver Chair comes in second). C.S. Lewis said that a good children's book will have something to say to the child that will still matter to him fifty years later. Perhaps what matters most is the character of Aslan, the huge, untame Lion who created and rules the kingdom of Narnia, which is in another dimension apart from this world. He is strong, but kind; He looks in the eyes of His subjects, sees into their souls, and says exactly what they need to hear to be encouraged, admonished, or comforted. He's a lot like the Aslan in the Disney movie that came out last year, except as you read the Chronicles you get to know Him more deeply. For me, the most magical thing about the Chronicles is that as I read about Aslan, I know it is a character in a fantasy story, but I love him more and more. I know He represents Christ, and I think to myself, He is so good. I could really follow Him.

That's what Michelle Tumes' song is about. I wish it were on the soundtrack of the Disney The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but it's probably too spiritual for that.

The song is ethereal sounding, like many of Michelle Tumes' songs, and it focuses on Aslan's power. Untame power can be kind of scary, and yet it can also give a person courage to follow through. Here are some of the beautiful words to Tumes' song.

I love an untame lion
He's calling me to come
My cold heart how it hesitates
I want to turn and run

His power is dangerous
His power is endless love

He's calling me
To a place where love's the only song
He's calling me
To a place where night will dance
With endless dawn dancing on and on and on.

Most of the lines of the song seem to refer to things characters in the books do. What is magical about this song, though, is that you don't have to have read the books to understand that God's power is both wild and loving, and that when He calls, it is a call to both security and adventure, away from the mundance of life. He's not a tame lion, but He is good.

- "Untame Lion" by Michelle Tumes, from her 1998 album Listen