A Double Dose of Lewis
A couple of months ago, some Bendites received a double-dose of CS Lewis. On a cold Wednesday evening, Foundry Church hosted a movie night and showed a fine Lewis biography. It was a fun evening with friends and an actor, using mostly Lewis' own words, detailing his life and journey to faith. Then, on Friday night of the same week, Claudia and I went as guests of good friends from Camp Sherman and joined a packed house at the Tower Theater to watch a one-man show on Lewis and his life and loves and work.
A one-two punch of deep, rich, and inspirational ideas from one of God's gifted followers who died nearly 60 years ago. Walking to our car with the temps in the teens and in the company of longtime friends, Claudia and I were warmed by the retained memories from these two evenings.
CS Lewis wrote directly out of his life. The Chronicles of Narnia used myth and story to put the cookies of faith on the bottom shelf for the youngest readers to reach. The Screwtape Letters flips the script and talks about life's faith struggles from the perspective of a junior demon. After Lewis' new wife, Joy, died, a friend encouraged him to turn his journal into a book for others who mourn: A Grief Observed. On and on, his 30 books and numerous articles and talks touch the heartbeat of real people wrestling with faith and life in the face of the uncertainties of life.
In The Weight of Glory, transcriptions of nine of Lewis' sermons delivered during WWII look distress and trying times square in the eye and remind readers of larger truths that believers dare not forget. The "weight" or burden of glory, he says, consists in the realization that:
"the redeemed shall be approved by God and delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father his son."
Stop for a moment and let his words sink in.
The redeemed, that's you and me who discover in Jesus a new life and a life-long faith journey. We have been rescued from sin and death and put on a new, different path. Redeemed ties us to Jesus' sacrifice and our new name, his beloved.
We are approved by God, which makes us no longer under any cloud of opinion or circumstance, as though we are stamped with God's seal of authenticity and identity. This sets a believer free to live a life of service since our standing before God is not in question.
Then, delighted in as an artist in his work or a father his son changes our status from one struggling to find his way, to God's own child made just as he designed, filled with promise and purpose. You walk your days under the smile of God.
What a finely-crafted line summing up who we are and whose we are. Later in the book, Lewis turns the lens onto those around us. He lifts the veil and describes those with whom we sit in traffic, see in the store, worship alongside of ... all of the tribe of humans. Listen to his challenge for us to see others differently.
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”
Now, that's quite the challenge for Americans in our, often harsh, day and culture that quickly cancels dissenting views. To value, to esteem, to see as immortal each person who crosses our path and who is made imago dei, in the image of God. That phrase is so easy to trivialize, but part of Lewis' point is what is at stake here and now. Every person I encounter, imago dei. How might I act differently throughout my day if I began to really see every person as created imago dei?
It sure looks like Jesus lived this way. Even with the enemies—almost exclusively religious folks who got it wrong—the wounding challenges were to expose, then correct and redirect. Today, and probably in every age, we think we know how this God stuff works, or at least ought to work, but really we are only given glimpses of the whole scene and left to work out the particulars. Why else, after Paul pens his masterful song of love in 1 Corinthians 13, would he conclude with
At present we are [people] looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all I know is a little fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God now knows me.
In this life we have three lasting qualities—faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love.
So, if we hitch Lewis' call to see every person as made in God's image, to Paul's conclusion that love is the greatest attribute we can carry, what might that look like lived out in your house and neighborhood and town? A fine question to ask as you navigate your day might be, "What does love require of me, right this minute?"
How do I react when crossed?
Did the server or clerk or teller or attendant feel honored as being made imago dei after their brush up against me?
What do I look like when stressed or when my agenda is disturbed?
Does even the tone of my voice convey anything other than what I confess to believe?
If, as Paul says, "At present all I know is a little fraction of the truth..." maybe I can dial down my rhetoric a notch. We are surrounded by immortals who, like me and you, are just trying to figure life out a day at a time. Grace offered to others is always in season.
Let's be more and more a people marked by our love and action for the immortals who surround us. Maybe have this as your awareness goal for today.
**Just a side note from me: I'll be taking a few weeks off from sending these weekly emails. I've been writing these notes for almost 2 years and time has come to step back to attend to some other needs. I hope to return soon. The weekly discipline of thinking and writing has done good things for me, and I have often prayed you have benefited from them, as well.
Music is always a gift, even with questions...
And...two funnies...just because
Ducking into confession with a turkey in his arms, Brian said, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I stole this turkey to feed my family. Would you take it and settle my guilt?"
"Certainly not," said the Priest. "As penance, you must return it to the one from whom you stole it."
"I tried," Brian sobbed, "but he refused. Oh, Father, what should I do?"
"If what you say is true, then it is all right for you to keep it for your family."
Thanking the Priest, Brian hurried off.
When confession was over, the Priest returned to his residence. When he walked into the kitchen, he found that someone had stolen his turkey.
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TRENDY DOG BREEDS FOR TODAY'S DISCRIMINATING OWNERS
~ Pointer + Setter = Pointsetter, a traditional Christmas pet
~ Kerry Blue Terrier + Skye Terrier = Blue Skye, a dog for visionaries
~ Great Pyrenees + Dachshund = Pyradachs, a puzzling breed
~ Pekinese + Lhasa Apso = Peekasso, an abstract dog
~ Irish Water Spaniel + English Springer Spaniel = Irish Springer, a dog fresh and clean as a whistle
~ Labrador Retriever + Curly Coated Retriever = Lab Coat Retriever, the choice of research scientists
~ Newfoundland + Basset Hound = Newfound Asset Hound, a dog for financial advisors
~ Terrier + Bulldog = Terribull, a dog that makes awful mistakes
~ Bloodhound + Labrador = Blabrador, a dog that barks incessantly
~ Malamute + Pointer = Moot Point, owned by... oh, well, it doesn't matter anyway
~ Collie + Malamute = Commute, a dog that travels to work
~ Deerhound + Terrier = Derriere, a dog that's true to the end