As some of you know, a couple of years ago I began a reading program to revisit the classics of Western literature – and it has been fun. And sometimes convicting as well. This weekend I purchased a very fine edition of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales (thank you Dad and Mom Williams for the birthday gift!). And in reading Anderson’s tale, The Snow Queen, I found myself a bit convicted.
The story concerns two young children, Kay (a little boy) and Gerda (a little girl). One snowy winter day, Kay, in his foolish rebellion has gone out to play with the older boys who would tie their sleds to passing wagons and get pulled about the town. Well, Kay fastens his sled to a fine white carriage that just so happens to belong to the Snow Queen – who proceeds to drag him out of town into a blizzard. Kay frantically tries to free his sled from the carriage, but he cannot. “He was very much frightened; he would have repeated “Our Father,” but he could remember nothing but the multiplication table.”[1]
The balance of the story tells the tale of how his faithful playmate, Gerda, searches for and ultimately rescues him. At the crucial moment of her arrival at the dreaded Snow Queen’s palace, Gerda is assailed by living snowflakes that took on horrible aspects and threatened to end our little heroine’s adventure. What does Gerda do? She prays:
“Little Gerda began to repeat “Our Father.” Meanwhile, the cold was so intense that she could see her own breath, which, as it escaped her mouth, ascended into the air like vapor; the cold grew intense, the vapor more dense, and at length took the form of little bright angels which, as they touched the earth, became larger and more distinct. They wore helmets on their heads, and carried shields and spears in their hands; their number increased so rapidly that, by the time Gerda had finished her prayer, a whole legion stood around her. They thrust with their spears against the horrible snow-flakes, which fell into thousands of pieces, and little Gerda walked on unhurt and undaunted.”[2]
Just a children’s story? I was reminded of Psalm 91 – a Psalm that invites us to cry out to the Lord during times of trouble. In Psalm 91 we are told that the Lord will deliver us from the fowler’s snare, from pestilence, from the terror of the night and the arrow that flies by day… He is able to protect us, “for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” The Lord speaks in the concluding verses of this Psalm, “When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.” (Psalm 91:15).
And is this not what our little literary champion did? She prayed to the Lord, “Lead me not into temptation and delver me from evil…” And when Gerda prayed the Lord’s Prayer, the Lord sent his legion of angels to deliver her . Gerda called to Him, and He rescued her.
Fables, fairy tales, and folk tales were never intended to teach history – rather, they were intended to illuminate the unseen world so that kids of all ages could consider ultimate truths concerning morality, existence, and yes, even God and his angels. This old fiction from Anderson’s pen illuminates for me those moments of crisis when all I can think of is the multiplication table. And it proposes via its true protagonist, Gerda, to never forget my sharpest and most useful tool – prayer. To be sure, Gerda also knew her multiplication table. Read the story for yourself – she was a very clever girl. But prayer is and must be the first and last resort of the child of God. And sometimes God uses children’s authors from centuries past to remind us of that fact.
Your Pastor,
Bob Bjerkaas
[1] Hans Christian Anderson, The Little Mermaid and other Fairy Tales (NY: Sterling Publishing Company, 2016), p. 62.
[2] Ibid., pp. 96-97.
N.B. The image is in the public domain. It is a watercolor, pen and ink on paper rendering of Gerda painted by Arthur Rackham for a 1936 edition of Anderson’s “The Snow Queen.” The tile of the work is, “Gerda is terrified by the Queen’s advance guard, but she said ‘Our Father.'”