I read this book in isolation from the other Narnia books and found that I had ideas that I missed in previous readings. 

King Tirian, the last of the Kings of Narnia, hears word that Aslan is in Narnia.  As he is on his journey, he discovers that things are just not working out well.  There seems to be a problem with what Aslan is saying, and there are problems with the Calormen.   The talking beasts of Narnia ask why this Aslan is so different.  They notice and name the issue, but they still accept that Aslan is the person who is directing Shift the ape to command those in Narnia.  King Tirian sees the miserable faces of those around him who have been accepting the ideas of Shift.  King Tirian recognizes that something is wrong.
 
“Ape,” he cried with a great voice, “you lie damnably.  You lie like a Calormene.  You lie like and Ape.
 
He meant to go on and challenge the Ape but was struck and knocked down.  What is it that makes King Tirian different from the others?
 
The king escapes and seeks to expose the false stories of Shift, along with gathering a force to remove the Calormen soldiers from Narnia, but runs into many troubles.  He persists and, though he is outnumbered, will continue to challenge Shift.
 
“Here stand I, Tirian of Narnia, in Aslan’s name, to prove with my body that Tash is a foul fiend, the Ape a manifold traitor, and these Calormenes worthy of death.  To my side, all true Narnians.  Would you wait till your new masters have killed you all one by one?”
 
So why is Tirian so willing to see what could become of the plan Shift has laid out, but those of Narnia are not seeing?  Why do the Narnians not question the differences that they see between the new and old Aslan? 
Tirian seems to have a sense of conscience that he will not go against.  The animal that has been posing as Narnia is freed from Shift and states:   “I see now that I really have been a very bad donkey.  I ought never have listened to Shift.  I never thought things like this would begin to happen”. 

Is one of the reasons that Shift had so much influence?  That it would never get this bad?   

At the beginning of the story, Shift tells the donkey, “You know you’re no good at thinking, so why don’t you let me do your thinking for you?”

Or is the reason that the thinking was delegated to Shift, it was just easy to listen to someone else tell you what you want to do? 
 
How can we apply this story to our own lives?  Where do we stand in the story?  Do we stand with Aslan and Narnia or with the false Aslan and Calormen?  Which belief system do we choose to embrace, support, and follow?
 
This book was published in 1956.  World War II is over, and the Cold War is in progress.  Is Lewis trying to warn up of what is going on?  Warn us that we have a choice to make?  We have to choose between the real Aslan and those who pretend to be Aslan.  Will we choose to follow leaders who promise “to make things better for everyone,” or “it's for your benefit,” or will we choose leaders who expect us to think and figure out how we can make the world a better place?
 
 
 

My copy of this book is pretty worn, but with sweet memories.  This was a book that my grandmother gave me.  It came as a set and included The Little House in the Big Woods and Mary Poppins.  If there was another book, I don’t remember it.  I don’t remember what year I was given this book, but I remember that my first books came from my grandmother.  I am not sure how many times I have read this book, but I don’t think I read it as often as some of my other books.   Now I think this is an important book to read and discuss.  There are many lessons that I see now about the thoughts you think and the responsibilities you choose. 
I can relate to Meg; I, too, never wanted to be an oddball.  Yet I was.  I was not as smart at math as Meg, and I was just as good at the negativity and victim mentality that she was feeling during most of this book.  What I had missed in my readings was that Meg took responsibility when she did not want to and changed her course.  When she changed her course, the blame, shame, and victim mentality seemed to decrease, too.
 
As they prepare for their journey to rescue their father, Mrs. Which says, “There will no longer be so many pleasant things to look at if responsible people do not do something about the unpleasant ones.”   What does this mean?  Who are the responsible people?  What should they do?
 
When they free their father, the brother is left behind, and Meg is angry with her dad.  He did not meet her expectations.  There were several times when she thought her dad should have done something.   She is angry because her brother was left behind.  As they are talking about the situation, Meg cries out, “I can’t go!  I can’t!  You know I can’t.”   The response was that she was not asked to at that point, and she started crying as she said that she would go back for her brother.  She knows it must be her that will go in order to bring her brother back.  At this point, she takes responsibility and changes her course from being a victim, angry at others, to being a creator or proactive, willing to try again.  Not only did she save her brother, but she also gained self-confidence in who she was and gained some wisdom.  Meg’s wisdom lies in her ability to trust her emotions, which she thought was a weakness. 
 
What a wonderful lesson for us to learn.  That we can choose our thinking and take responsibility instead of being victimized by the situation.  We can use gifts wisely and come to better know ourselves through our experiences.  

Nihilism does not contend that there is nothing, but it states that everything is meaningless.  And George A. Sargent was right when he promulgated the concept of “learned meaninglessness.”  He himself remembered a therapist who said, “George, you must realize that the world is a joke.  There is no justice, everything is random.  Only when you realize this will you understand how silly it is to take yourself seriously.  There is no grand purpose in the universe.  It just is.  There’s no particular meaning in what decision you make today bout how to act.”  (p. 152).
 
Dr. Frankl’s approach, known as Logotherapy, focuses on discovering meaning.  “Man’s search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a “secondary rationalization” of instinctual drives.” (p. 99). 
 
Rereading this book has been very rewarding.  It is amazing how timing plays into things, along with different experiences.  I have not read this book in a very long time.  It becomes more impactful in today’s situation, where there seems to be less and less focus on finding meaning in our lives and more and more focus on ‘live for the moment’.   As I re-read this, his ideas about the Existential Vacuum stood out more than ever.  Depression, aggression, and addiction are everywhere.   Dr. Frankl has a solution to this, which is for us to find meaning in our lives, through work, love, or showing courage during difficult times.  As he tells his experiences in the concentration camp, you can see him validating his teaching of logotherapy with real experience.    
Not only can we choose our thoughts, but we can also analyze our thoughts and determine if we are telling ourselves the truth, decide if we are in the drama triangle, and then change those thoughts that are wrong.  That alone will make things better for us.  It will not remove the challenges we face, but it will help us choose our response to the challenges we are facing.  We can look for ways to build our inner strength and courage. 
It is wonderful that this book is available for us to read and learn from as we search for meaning in our lives.