Ken McIntosh is the author of Following Aslan, a book of devotions for children based upon The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. The book is currently on sale for $5.99 as part of the Harvest Sale. Ken is also the pastor of The Journey in Flagstaff, Arizona, and teaches college courses in religion. In this three-part interview (conducted by email), Ken discusses Following Aslan, as well as his experience reading The Awakening Tales for the first time. This three-part interview was conducted by email. One part of the interview will be posted each week. Here is Part 3:
 
TheIndigoWizard.com: You're the author of Following Aslan. Do you see any similarities between the Chronicles of Narnia and the Indigo Wizard series? What are the differences?
 
Ken McIntosh: Of course, both are spiritual parables. Both invite interpretation as Christ stories—though they can be enjoyed simply as good tales. The Narnia books are each longer narratives, and meanings must be taken in the larger context of the whole novel; as opposed to The Indigo Wizard tales, which are short sections for briefer meditation. I think that using animals for protagonists, rather than human children, makes a great difference in how one experiences The Awakening Tales. The Indigo Wizard requires the reader to step out of her ordinary way of thinking—almost like a Zen koan. The Narnia tales require a shorter leap of faith from the readers’ point-of-view into the world of image-ination.
 
TheIndigoWizard.com: How is Following Aslan designed to be used? Could The Awakening Tales be used in a comparable way?
 
KM: The two books are actually written for opposite purposes. Following Aslan makes explicit what Lewis hints at; it is all explanation, for readers who are young or who might not have a background in comparative literature. The Awakening Tales are un-distilled metaphor, inviting the reader to ponder deeper meanings. In Following Aslan I attempt, as one preacher used to say, “to put the cookies on the bottom shelf where they can be reached.” The Indigo Wizard asks readers to pull up a chair and stretch toward the top shelf where she knows the cookies are hidden. They both have a good purpose—but I suspect they might appeal to differing audiences.
 
TheIndigoWizard.com: In Anamchara's interview with Sr. Paula Matthew, the author of The Awakening Tales, it was clear that the creation of this work had been (and continues to be) a transforming experience in her life. As you wrote Following Aslan, did it have any effect on your own spiritual life? How does this carry over into your ongoing life?
 
KM: I wrote Following Aslan because the Narnia Tales have been metaphors for my life a long time; I’ve re-read them such that they become part of my own life narrative. I actually wrote that book very quickly, as it was simply encasing in print what already was written in my mind.
 
C.S. Lewis is my soul-friend (Anamchara). Though we never met in space-and-time, his words have comforted and encouraged me like no other Christian companion. This is a slight aside, but when my father died I struggled with my grief and then sat down to re-read Lewis’ account of his wife’s death, titled A Grief Observed. Halfway into the book I broke down sobbing. Lewis’ words touched me like no one else in that dark time, and his reflections were the catharsis I needed to return to my normal level of living.
 
The Narnia story that I keep recalling is that of Reepicheep, in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when the party talks of turning the ship around and heading home, abandoning their quest to reach Aslan’s country. Reepicheep makes clear that he will go on regardless of the others, that he will row his small boat far as he can, then if it sinks he will swim, and “if I have not reached Aslan’s country . . . I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise.” I want to be that kind of a God-seeker!