New Clothes

I can think of no better example to describe my feelings about this past year and my excitement for this new year, except to write this excerpt from C.S. Lewis's "Voyage of the Dawn Treader." Just a little background first. Eustace turned into a dragon after finding a treasure in a dragon's cave. His selfishness and greed changed him physically. He was heavy with scales. He found it was "rather dreary being a dragon." And then this happened.
"Well, as I say, I was lying awake and wondering what on earth would become of me. And then--but, mind you, it may have been all a dream. I don't know. Well, anyway, I looked up and saw the very last thing I expected: a huge lion coming slowly towards me. And one queer thing was that there was no moon last night, but there was moonlight where the lion was. So it came nearer and nearer. I was terribly afraid of it. You may think that, being a dragon, I could have knocked any lion out easily enough. But it wasn't that kind of fear. I wasn't afraid of him eating me, I was just afraid of it--if you can understand. Well, it came closer up to me and looked me in to the eyes. and I shut my eyes tight. But that wasn't any good because it told me to follow it. "
"You mean it spoke?" Said Edmund.
"I don't know. Now that you mention it, I don't think it did. But it told me all the same. And I knew I'd have to do what it told me, so I got up and followed it....And it led me into the mountains...at last we came to the top of a mountain I'd never seen before and on top of this mountain was a garden...In the middle of it there was a well....The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg. But the lion told me I must undress first. Mind you, I don''t know if he said any words out loud or not. "
"So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two I just stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe."
"But just as I was going to put my foot into the water I looked down and saw that it was all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as it had been before...So, I scratched and tore again and this under skin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one..."
"Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off?... So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good."
"Then the lion said--but I don't know if he spoke--'You will have to let me undress you. '
I was afraid of His claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it."
"The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt..."
Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off--just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt--and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller that I had been. Then he caught hold of me--I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on--and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only fo a moment. After that it became pefectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turn into a boy again."
"After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me...in new clothes... and suddenly I was back here..."
"Makes me think it must have been a dream."
"No. It wasn't a dream," said Edmund...
"What do you think it was then?" asked Eustace.
"I think you've seen Aslan." said Edmund.

To a joyful new year.