As is most of the Western World--I've been going back and re-reading several works belonging to one of the great Christian minds: C.S. Lewis.
Remembering how he captured my imagination the first time I read about the mystical world of Narnia. Or how he absolutely nailed me in Screwtape Letters. His comments on sex, evil, suffering, and ethics surface in my life in some of the strangest moments. Or how in Until We Have Faces I began to understand (albeit for the first time) a true picture of transformation.
A recent experience as a pastor reminded me of these famous words, "There are two errors which are race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an unhealthy and excessive interest in them." I know plenty of people in both ditches; some who have made an awful amount of money; some who look eerily similar to my own reflection.
In a recent article, the step-son of Jack (as his friends called him) Lewis recounted a story of C.S. and J.R.R. Tolkien. Apparently, Tolkien and Lewis were walking when approached by a man asking for money. Lewis obliged the man and gave him the requested funds. After the man walked away, Tolkien commented, "Jack, don't you know he'll spend that on liquor." To which Jack commented, "I'd probably do the same."
C.S. Lewis will continue to live in the words and teachings of Christians because he understood the essential paradox of faith. Though reason, proof, and intellect are crucial to the human experience, they cannot replace faith, imagination, and hope.
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2 comments:
Josh, thanks for stretching me and making me dive into the Chronicles of Narnia (even while I was kicking and screaming). You are the best thing to happen to this church in a long while.
Woo-hoo, I have a new favorite CS Lewis quote.
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