A Father's Legacy

Do you know farmer MacDonald of Glen Coe in Aberdeenshire, Scotland? Although he lived during the early 1800's, I believe he has had a huge influence in your life. I believe his legacy has shaped the Christian faith of the 21st century.

How many of us have thrilled to the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis? His allegorical series has enthralled readers, listeners and movie-goers for generations. We have nodded and "amen"ed our way through the pages of The Screwtape Letters as we saw in the fictional correspondence between demons-- ourselves--falling prey to the enemy. Lewis' fictional and philosophical works have brought truths of the Christian faith near to the thinkers of our time.

Lewis did not believe in God until he was in his 30's. Coming to faith from atheism he latched onto the writings of George MacDonald, son of the farmer of Aberdeenshire.

Lewis, thirsty for truth, found a wellspring in MacDonald's fantasies and fairy tales.

He said this of MacDonald's writings, "I dare not say that he is never in error; but to speak plainly I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself.I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him."

MacDonald's writings reflected his deep faith in a loving Heavenly Father. Where did MacDonald learn of the deep love of God? At the knee of his own father, the farmer of Glen Coe.

In the dedication to a book simply entitled, George MacDonald, Lewis had this to say about the roots of MacDonald's faith. "An almost perfect relationship with his father was the earthly root of all his wisdom. From his own father, he said, he first learned that Fatherhood must be at the core of the universe. He was thus prepared in an unusual way to teach that religion in which the relation of Father and Son is of all relations most central."

And, of course, the Father and Son he refers to are God, our heavenly father, and Jesus Christ, His son.

Indeed, George MacDonald inspired many other authors as well such as J. R. R. Tolkien, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle.

It was C.S. Lewis who wrote: "Picking up a copy of Phantastes one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later," said Lewis, "I knew that I had crossed a great frontier."

G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence." Elizabeth Yates wrote of Sir Gibbie, "It moved me the way books did when, as a child, the great gates of literature began to open and first encounters with noble thoughts and utterances were unspeakably thrilling."

This Father's Day know that you are making a difference in your child's life. And you never know who you might be influencing in generations to come. You are leaving a legacy.

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