When the world gets to be too crazy, I often find myself taking refuge in great stories. One of the great authors of such a story - no less personage than J.R.R. Tolkien himself - wrote a full essay on this phenomenon titled On Fairy-Stories. It is well worth reading, but a point he makes there that I find most arresting is the idea that, when we are struggling to encounter them in the real world, virtue can not only be encountered in stories but can (re)inspire the reader to bring that virtue from the realm of the imagination back into real life.

In one of his letters, Tolkien also talks about this connection of the imaginative to the real, and their mutual orientation to the final - I daresay eternal! - victory: “Actually I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect 'history' to be anything but a 'long defeat' - though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory. (Letter #195)”, J.R.R. Tolkien

One of my favorite glimpses comes from the characters of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia - in particular, this exchange between Aslan, Reepicheep, and perhaps most importantly, those faithful followers of them both:

"Hail, Aslan!" came his shrill voice. "I have the honour -" But then he suddenly stopped.

The fact was that he still had no tail - whether that Lucy had forgotten it or that her cordial, though it could heal wounds, could not make things grow again. Reepicheep became aware of his loss as he made his bow; perhaps it altered something in his balance. He looked over his right shoulder. Failing to see his tail, he strained his neck further till he had to turn his shoulders and his whole body followed. But by that time his hind-quarters had turned too and were out of sight. Then he strained his neck looking over his shoulder again, with the same result. Only after he had turned completely round three times did he realize the dreadful truth.

"I am confounded," said Reepicheep to Aslan. "I am completely out of countenance. I must crave your indulgence for appearing in this unseemly fashion."

"It becomes you very well, Small One," said Aslan. "All the same," replied Reepicheep, "if anything could be done... Perhaps her Majesty?" and here he bowed to Lucy.

"But what do you want with a tail?" asked Aslan.

"Sir," said the Mouse, "I can eat and sleep and die for my King without one. But a tail is the honour and glory of a Mouse."

"I have sometimes wondered, friend," said Aslan, "whether you do not think too much about your honour."

"Highest of all High Kings," said Reepicheep, "permit me to remind you that a very small size has been bestowed on us Mice, and if we did not guard our dignity, some (who weigh worth by inches) would allow themselves very unsuitable pleasantries at our expense. That is why I have been at some pains to make it known that no one who does not wish to feel this sword as near his heart as I can reach shall talk in my presence about Traps or Toasted Cheese or Candles: no, Sir - not the tallest fool in Narnia!" Here he glared very fiercely up at Wimbleweather, but the Giant, who was always a stage behind everyone else, had not yet discovered what was being talked about down at his feet, and so missed the point.

"Why have your followers all drawn their swords, may I ask?" said Aslan.

"May it please your High Majesty," said the second Mouse, whose name was Peepiceek, "we are all waiting to cut off our own tails if our Chief must go without his. We will not bear the shame of wearing an honour which is denied to the High Mouse."

'Ah!' roared Aslan. 'You have conquered me. You have great hearts. Not for the sake of your dignity, Reepicheep, but for the love that is between you and your people, and still more for the kindness your people showed me long ago when you ate away the cords that bound me on the Stone Table (and it was then, though you have long forgotten it, that you began to be Talking Mice), you shall have your tail again.'"

- Prince Caspian, C. S. Lewis

How we long to share in this kind of love! The intimacy between John and the apostle John as he lays his head over the heart of our Lord, the tenderness of Mary as she holds her son, the devotion of the three Marys as they go to anoint the body of their Saviour, the burning of the hearts of the disciples walking on the road to Emmaus with Jesus. Our highest priority is not the world's constant push, push, push toward material possessions or power, but rather to live out the sacrificial love that Christ modeled for us - even when it costs us much....or everything.

In his letter ahead of the upcoming consistory of cardinals, Pope Leo XIV writes beautifully about the call to encounter Christ, Who transforms "through attraction rather than conquest": "Even when the Church finds herself in a minority, she is called to live with confident courage, as a small flock bringing hope to all, mindful that the aim of mission is not its own survival, but the communication of the love with which God loves the world." April 12 Letter of Pope Leo XIV to the Cardinals. 

May we look for those opportunities in our own day-to-day lives to communicate the love of God - whether by word or in our love for each other  - to a world that so desperately needs Him.