10 points to the first "cool" person who knows where my blog title comes from! Go!
Let me pose a question to you. When was the last time you, dear Christian, marveled about heaven? Let's get even simpler for our non-creative geeks in the room, when was the last time you simply thought about heaven?
Hopefully, it was recently, as in yesterday, or a couple of hours ago, or even minutes ago, or, "Hey, I'm thinking about it right now!" Maybe I am starting a series here on Christian disciplines or something, but I think that it is VITALLY important to our relationships with God to reflect, think, meditate and hold strong hope in/on Heaven VERY OFTEN, if not consistently constantly.
When our minds are filled with the hope of heaven or the thought of heaven, you know what happens - we evangelize more.
When our minds are focused in on the fact that we are NOT home right now, you know what happens - we spend less money on frivolous things like Starbuck's Grande Pumpkin Spice Lattes and begin to tithe more than 10%.
When our minds are set on the wonder and amazement of a heavenly dwelling that is being prepared for us, you know what happens - we get to grasp what it means to worship God with our whole heart, mind, soul in Spirit and in Truth.
Some encouragement then, because maybe, like me, you have no idea where to start when it gets to thinking about heaven. First, read Revelation 4-5, 19-22. Yep, actually read that scary book at the end of your Bible. You'd be amazed at how much you will be understand (even without a PhD in Greek).
Second, find theologians, church fathers, great pastors, who have written down their thoughts and reflections on heaven and soak it in! Maybe you are not filled with great elocution like Augustine, Milton, Edwards, Moody, or Piper - but that is the great thing about being a member of the body of Christ! You get to use other parts of the body for what they are made for - to uplift the rest of the body, to equip them, and to disciple them. What a fantastic thought!
So, to begin your thoughts on heaven today, I am leaving you with a quote from none other than my personal "hero of the faith," C.S. Lewis (you probably could have guessed that). This is from The Problem of Pain, something we should all read! : )
"Your soul has a curious shape because it is a hollow made to fit a particular swelling in the infinite contours of the Divine substance, or a key to unlock one of the doors in the house with many mansions. For it is not humanity in the abstract that is being saved, but you - you, the individual reader, John Stubbs or Janet Smith. Blessed and fortunate creature, your eyes shall behold Him and not another's. All that you are, sins apart, is destined, if you will let God have His good way, to utter satisfaction. The Broken spectre 'looked to ever man like his first love', because she was a cheat. But God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love. Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it - made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand."
Showing posts with label Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lewis. Show all posts
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
What Nonsense!
This week I have been reading The Problem of Pain by none other than C.S. Lewis (I know, shocker of the century, I am yet again reading another Lewis work). The first time I read this book, I was entirely too young, too stupid, and my brain not yet fully formed, so I understood probably next to nothing in it. This time around though, I have my highlighter set to stun, because I am literally coloring in almost every page as Lewis waxes on.
Sharing with you a bit of the second chapter - Divine Omnipotence, Lewis writes:
"If you choose to say 'God can give a creature free will and at the same time withhold free will from it', you have not succeeded in saying anything about God: meaningless combinations of words do not suddenly acquire meaning simply because we prefix to them the two other words 'God can'. ... It is no more possible for God than for the weakest of His creatures to carry out both of two mutually exclusive alternatives; not because His power meets an obstacle, but because nonsense remains nonsense even when we talk it about God."
I'm going to try my hardest not to turn this blog post into a gush on how much I LOVE LEWIS and his wonderful words, instead I want to point out the utter simplistic genius of Lewis statement - "nonsense remains nonsense even when we talk it about God."
Dr. Hawking, a man much smarter than myself and most of the lowly human life forms on this planet, recently published a new book, The Grand Design, in which much hoopla was given over him stating: "Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the Universe going."
Clearly, I am no mathematician, scientist or physicist - if anything I probably belong to that wing of the world called "Philosophy" which Dr. Hawking insists in this very book that it is dead. So, being a part of the world that is dead, I am going to start off by taking offense. A very good friend and deeper thinker than myself wrote a wonderful response to this already, please read it here. Dr. Hawking has vast contradictions in his statement, something cannot come from nothing. The universe cannot cause its existence unless something was there to cause it. Come on, that's Philosophy 101. It also should be a part of Logic 101 in the wonderful world of Mathematics, but whatever; let's get to the point of this blog.
The fact of the matter is that sometimes we say wild and crazy things and think that they are immensely intelligent and universe shattering all because we begin the sentence with "If God can" or "What if it was possible to." But let's face it, nonsense is still nonsense. The very laws of science do not allow for the fantastical "what ifs" that we dream up. Just because my brain imagines a world where every time I put my hands in the air I, and only I, am able to grab a beautiful, brilliant rock called a diamond that is worth millions of dollars does not mean that this is possible.
We become indignant and full of self-righteousness at times, saying that God should have done this to change the world, or that God should have created this world without certain people or things if he was really all powerful, all loving, all knowing. That's the rub though, we try so hard to talk about creating a perfect world according to our own standards and thoughts, but what if (yep I said it) our own thoughts and standards are evil to someone else in the world. We would be creating what is supposedly perfect, but yet would still be harmful to someone else.
That is the wonderful and amazing thing about God. This world may not be perfect, but He is and He was - living in this world as the God-man Jesus. So, while we try to imagine a perfect world that God should have created, He is sitting there offering you abundant life in this fallen world now, and a perfect eternity to come in the new heaven, new earth. It might sound "crazy." It might sound entirely stupid to you, but it's the only thing that is not nonsense, because the Creator, the Perfect God, has said it. Instead of constantly putting the blame on God for this world and the harms it has done to you, try learning more about who God is, why He loves you even though you have done nothing to deserve it, and why He is even now preparing a place for you that is, for all intents and purposes, something that would be nonsense in this world.
Sharing with you a bit of the second chapter - Divine Omnipotence, Lewis writes:
"If you choose to say 'God can give a creature free will and at the same time withhold free will from it', you have not succeeded in saying anything about God: meaningless combinations of words do not suddenly acquire meaning simply because we prefix to them the two other words 'God can'. ... It is no more possible for God than for the weakest of His creatures to carry out both of two mutually exclusive alternatives; not because His power meets an obstacle, but because nonsense remains nonsense even when we talk it about God."
I'm going to try my hardest not to turn this blog post into a gush on how much I LOVE LEWIS and his wonderful words, instead I want to point out the utter simplistic genius of Lewis statement - "nonsense remains nonsense even when we talk it about God."
Dr. Hawking, a man much smarter than myself and most of the lowly human life forms on this planet, recently published a new book, The Grand Design, in which much hoopla was given over him stating: "Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the Universe going."
Clearly, I am no mathematician, scientist or physicist - if anything I probably belong to that wing of the world called "Philosophy" which Dr. Hawking insists in this very book that it is dead. So, being a part of the world that is dead, I am going to start off by taking offense. A very good friend and deeper thinker than myself wrote a wonderful response to this already, please read it here. Dr. Hawking has vast contradictions in his statement, something cannot come from nothing. The universe cannot cause its existence unless something was there to cause it. Come on, that's Philosophy 101. It also should be a part of Logic 101 in the wonderful world of Mathematics, but whatever; let's get to the point of this blog.
The fact of the matter is that sometimes we say wild and crazy things and think that they are immensely intelligent and universe shattering all because we begin the sentence with "If God can" or "What if it was possible to." But let's face it, nonsense is still nonsense. The very laws of science do not allow for the fantastical "what ifs" that we dream up. Just because my brain imagines a world where every time I put my hands in the air I, and only I, am able to grab a beautiful, brilliant rock called a diamond that is worth millions of dollars does not mean that this is possible.
We become indignant and full of self-righteousness at times, saying that God should have done this to change the world, or that God should have created this world without certain people or things if he was really all powerful, all loving, all knowing. That's the rub though, we try so hard to talk about creating a perfect world according to our own standards and thoughts, but what if (yep I said it) our own thoughts and standards are evil to someone else in the world. We would be creating what is supposedly perfect, but yet would still be harmful to someone else.
That is the wonderful and amazing thing about God. This world may not be perfect, but He is and He was - living in this world as the God-man Jesus. So, while we try to imagine a perfect world that God should have created, He is sitting there offering you abundant life in this fallen world now, and a perfect eternity to come in the new heaven, new earth. It might sound "crazy." It might sound entirely stupid to you, but it's the only thing that is not nonsense, because the Creator, the Perfect God, has said it. Instead of constantly putting the blame on God for this world and the harms it has done to you, try learning more about who God is, why He loves you even though you have done nothing to deserve it, and why He is even now preparing a place for you that is, for all intents and purposes, something that would be nonsense in this world.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Did James Cameron just RIP OFF C.S. Lewis?
OK, I am digressing from William Perkins at the moment for a couple of reasons.
1. I am nearing the end of the term right now, and working on my final paper, which has nothing to do with Perkins. My focus has been sidetracked from blogging with the hovering fate of final grades.
2. We went and saw Avatar last night, and the more I thought about it, the more I think I may be on to something here.
I will try my hardest not to reveal anything too big about Avatar in this blog, but in case you are one of those people that are dying to see this movie and would like to know absolutely nothing about it, then by all means, go see the movie and then read this blog.
Lewis was questioned near the end of his life about several topics in Christianity and writing by a man named Sherwood E. Wirt who worked with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Mr. Wirt's and Lewis' discussion is recorded for us in the collection of essays, God in the Dock. The essay is entitled "Cross-Examination."
Mr. Wirt, reaching the end of the discussion, asks Lewis, "Do you think there will be wide-spread travel in space?" Lewis' response is this:
"I look forward with horror to contact with the other inhabited planets, if there are such. We would only transport to them all of our sin and our acquisitiveness, and establish a new colonialism. I can't bear to think of it. But if we on earth were to get right with God, of course, all would be changed. Once we find ourselves spiritually awakened, we can go to outer space and take the good things with us. That is quite a different matter."
Earlier this semester, I read Lewis' book Out of the Silent Planet for the first time. I was enthralled with Lewis' idea that we were the aliens invading another planet; humanity was bad, bent. The civilization on the planet, Malacandra, was not bent. The different species worked together in their own gifted ways to bring harmony to their planet, because this was the way of Maleldil. Ransom, our hero of the story, knew that if man remained on this planet then they would destroy the way of life on Malacandra and bring the bent-ness to this planet.
OK, so let's go over some similarities between Out of the Silent Planet and Avatar then.
First, the landscape - When Ransom first comes to Malacandra, Lewis writes, "He saw nothing but colors - colors that refused to form themselves into things." "Before anything else he learned that Malacandra was beautiful." Not too mention the purple vegetation, trees and moss that almost seemed to hang in the air. This colorful world filled with purple and light is pretty close to the world of Pandora in Avatar. Obviously, Cameron is more vivid in his ability to express an unfallen world, but there is something that is awfully similar between the two planets - beauty.
Second, the creatures - Now, the sorns are white beings, but they are described as extremely long, drooping noses, graceful creatures. I cannot help but think of the Na'vi. Yes, they are blue beings, but still very long, very graceful. The hrossa as well bring song and praise to Maleldil. When the Na'vi come together and "worship" their god, Eywah, they bring song to it. The hrossa were the poets of the land; they were the ones that came up with beautiful words and songs. They also were the hunters of the land - not hunting as some sort of mere killing experience, but the hunt was a work of pride, a work to be honored. The same idea was with the Na'vi - that the hunter must have a clean kill, and that they understood the circle of life as they took a life to feed their lives.
Third, Ransom - When Ransom has first arrived at Malacandra, he has spent a month nearly inactive. When he is running for his life, the description Lewis gives reminds me of Jake's first time using his Avatar. Jake was excited and wobbly using his legs for the first time in years since his spinal cord was shot; Ransom, while obviously having a far less tramatic experience, was wobbly and worn because he was not used to running in this new world. He had to learn the new world, the way to climb and run in it. Ransom also had to learn the language of the hrossa in order to become one of them, much like Jake having to learn the language of the Na'vi. They worked on changing everything about their humanity into something new. They both desired to leave behind what was bent (spiritually for Ransom and physically for Jake); they desired to be a part of the harmonious life on the new planet.
These are just a few of the things that I noticed that were similar between the two. I have NO idea if James Cameron has ever read Out of the Silent Planet. I guess I will have to ask him the next time I have him over for a cup of tea, oh wait, I'm not that famous yet.
1. I am nearing the end of the term right now, and working on my final paper, which has nothing to do with Perkins. My focus has been sidetracked from blogging with the hovering fate of final grades.
2. We went and saw Avatar last night, and the more I thought about it, the more I think I may be on to something here.
I will try my hardest not to reveal anything too big about Avatar in this blog, but in case you are one of those people that are dying to see this movie and would like to know absolutely nothing about it, then by all means, go see the movie and then read this blog.
Lewis was questioned near the end of his life about several topics in Christianity and writing by a man named Sherwood E. Wirt who worked with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Mr. Wirt's and Lewis' discussion is recorded for us in the collection of essays, God in the Dock. The essay is entitled "Cross-Examination."
Mr. Wirt, reaching the end of the discussion, asks Lewis, "Do you think there will be wide-spread travel in space?" Lewis' response is this:
"I look forward with horror to contact with the other inhabited planets, if there are such. We would only transport to them all of our sin and our acquisitiveness, and establish a new colonialism. I can't bear to think of it. But if we on earth were to get right with God, of course, all would be changed. Once we find ourselves spiritually awakened, we can go to outer space and take the good things with us. That is quite a different matter."
Earlier this semester, I read Lewis' book Out of the Silent Planet for the first time. I was enthralled with Lewis' idea that we were the aliens invading another planet; humanity was bad, bent. The civilization on the planet, Malacandra, was not bent. The different species worked together in their own gifted ways to bring harmony to their planet, because this was the way of Maleldil. Ransom, our hero of the story, knew that if man remained on this planet then they would destroy the way of life on Malacandra and bring the bent-ness to this planet.
OK, so let's go over some similarities between Out of the Silent Planet and Avatar then.
First, the landscape - When Ransom first comes to Malacandra, Lewis writes, "He saw nothing but colors - colors that refused to form themselves into things." "Before anything else he learned that Malacandra was beautiful." Not too mention the purple vegetation, trees and moss that almost seemed to hang in the air. This colorful world filled with purple and light is pretty close to the world of Pandora in Avatar. Obviously, Cameron is more vivid in his ability to express an unfallen world, but there is something that is awfully similar between the two planets - beauty.
Second, the creatures - Now, the sorns are white beings, but they are described as extremely long, drooping noses, graceful creatures. I cannot help but think of the Na'vi. Yes, they are blue beings, but still very long, very graceful. The hrossa as well bring song and praise to Maleldil. When the Na'vi come together and "worship" their god, Eywah, they bring song to it. The hrossa were the poets of the land; they were the ones that came up with beautiful words and songs. They also were the hunters of the land - not hunting as some sort of mere killing experience, but the hunt was a work of pride, a work to be honored. The same idea was with the Na'vi - that the hunter must have a clean kill, and that they understood the circle of life as they took a life to feed their lives.
Third, Ransom - When Ransom has first arrived at Malacandra, he has spent a month nearly inactive. When he is running for his life, the description Lewis gives reminds me of Jake's first time using his Avatar. Jake was excited and wobbly using his legs for the first time in years since his spinal cord was shot; Ransom, while obviously having a far less tramatic experience, was wobbly and worn because he was not used to running in this new world. He had to learn the new world, the way to climb and run in it. Ransom also had to learn the language of the hrossa in order to become one of them, much like Jake having to learn the language of the Na'vi. They worked on changing everything about their humanity into something new. They both desired to leave behind what was bent (spiritually for Ransom and physically for Jake); they desired to be a part of the harmonious life on the new planet.
These are just a few of the things that I noticed that were similar between the two. I have NO idea if James Cameron has ever read Out of the Silent Planet. I guess I will have to ask him the next time I have him over for a cup of tea, oh wait, I'm not that famous yet.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Bleak Moments...
About a week ago, I read Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis for the first time. Yes, I know what you are thinking - Steph, how is it that you have not read this book with your great love for Jack? Let me tell you, friend.... I don't know. I truly have no excuse. A great friend of mine has been hounding me about the Science Fiction trilogy of Lewis' for almost a decade now. And I will say it now - he is right, I was wrong in neglecting this for so long.
One of the biggest lightbulb moments for me while reading this was in the discovery of what exactly the Silent Planet was and why it was Silent. This is what I would like to write about now, so if you have not read the book, and you would NOT like to be spoiled - don't read this blog. However, if you don't mind a little spoiler, go ahead and read it - or you could go pick yourself up a copy of this very short 158 page book, read it, then come back here to discuss some thoughts.
OK, so spoiler readers and readers of the book from here on out.
Here is an excerpt from the book. It is Oyarsa (basically the head "angel" on the planet Malacandra) speaking to Ransom (our human hero of the book) telling him about Planet Thulcandra (aka Earth). Lewis writes,
"Thulcandra is the world we do not know. It alone is outside the heaven, and no message comes from it... It was not always so. Once we knew the Oyarsa of your world - he was brighter and greater than I - and then we did not call it Thulcandra. It is the longest of all stories and the bitterest. He became bent. That was before any life came on your world. Those were the Bent Years of which we still speak in the heavens, when he was not yet bound to Thulcandra but free like us. It was in his mind to spoil other worlds besides his own. He smote your moon with his left hand and with his right he brought the cold death on my harandra (upper level of the current planet, Malacandra) before its time... There was great war, and we drove him back out of the heavens and bound him in the air of his own world as Maleldil (God) taught us. There doubtless he lies to this hour, and we know no more of that planet: it is silent."
Lewis' myth-making here of the story of the fall of Satan is pretty amazing. He has an uncanny gift to be able to take what we know to be true from the Word of God and make it into another story/reality/myth that explains an idea about what we know. So for Lewis, Earth which is ruled by the Bent One is silent to all other angels. They cannot see or receive any messages from it, because the Bent One has silenced it to them.
This idea of silence as sin is striking to me. When I think of the injustices in the world - like a teenager being gang-raped for 2 1/2 hours while onlookers do nothing about it - I do not think of silence. The sounds of that one incident ring out in my ears - rage, anger, loudness, yells, screams, terror - sin is not silent here. It cries out in a loud, boisterous voice of ugliness to all the world. Yet the angels do not hear this, because they are separate beings and sin is not a part of them. To them, this world that is ruled by the Bent One is silent; and this is what brings great sorrow into my heart. Because sin has overtaken this world, and what God truly designed for this world is no longer visible or heard to angels.
The wonderful flip side to all of this is that once we leave the world of the Bent One and become a part of the plan of God, the angels rejoice in seeing us and hearing from us again. Luke 15:10, "Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
I have been challenged this week to be more active in this bleak, silent world. To borrow a phrase from Dr. Plantinga, this is "not the way it's supposed to be."
One of the biggest lightbulb moments for me while reading this was in the discovery of what exactly the Silent Planet was and why it was Silent. This is what I would like to write about now, so if you have not read the book, and you would NOT like to be spoiled - don't read this blog. However, if you don't mind a little spoiler, go ahead and read it - or you could go pick yourself up a copy of this very short 158 page book, read it, then come back here to discuss some thoughts.
OK, so spoiler readers and readers of the book from here on out.
Here is an excerpt from the book. It is Oyarsa (basically the head "angel" on the planet Malacandra) speaking to Ransom (our human hero of the book) telling him about Planet Thulcandra (aka Earth). Lewis writes,
"Thulcandra is the world we do not know. It alone is outside the heaven, and no message comes from it... It was not always so. Once we knew the Oyarsa of your world - he was brighter and greater than I - and then we did not call it Thulcandra. It is the longest of all stories and the bitterest. He became bent. That was before any life came on your world. Those were the Bent Years of which we still speak in the heavens, when he was not yet bound to Thulcandra but free like us. It was in his mind to spoil other worlds besides his own. He smote your moon with his left hand and with his right he brought the cold death on my harandra (upper level of the current planet, Malacandra) before its time... There was great war, and we drove him back out of the heavens and bound him in the air of his own world as Maleldil (God) taught us. There doubtless he lies to this hour, and we know no more of that planet: it is silent."
Lewis' myth-making here of the story of the fall of Satan is pretty amazing. He has an uncanny gift to be able to take what we know to be true from the Word of God and make it into another story/reality/myth that explains an idea about what we know. So for Lewis, Earth which is ruled by the Bent One is silent to all other angels. They cannot see or receive any messages from it, because the Bent One has silenced it to them.
This idea of silence as sin is striking to me. When I think of the injustices in the world - like a teenager being gang-raped for 2 1/2 hours while onlookers do nothing about it - I do not think of silence. The sounds of that one incident ring out in my ears - rage, anger, loudness, yells, screams, terror - sin is not silent here. It cries out in a loud, boisterous voice of ugliness to all the world. Yet the angels do not hear this, because they are separate beings and sin is not a part of them. To them, this world that is ruled by the Bent One is silent; and this is what brings great sorrow into my heart. Because sin has overtaken this world, and what God truly designed for this world is no longer visible or heard to angels.
The wonderful flip side to all of this is that once we leave the world of the Bent One and become a part of the plan of God, the angels rejoice in seeing us and hearing from us again. Luke 15:10, "Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
I have been challenged this week to be more active in this bleak, silent world. To borrow a phrase from Dr. Plantinga, this is "not the way it's supposed to be."
Thursday, October 15, 2009
...just call me Jack
The one class that I have yet to comment on is probably my favorite class I am currently taking. This is not to say that I do not thoroughly love and enjoy my other three classes, I do, but this class tops them all. The reading for it is magnificent, the lectures are fascinating, and if there were to be a field-trip, I would be about as close to heaven as I am going to get here on earth.
Have I intrigued you enough yet? Peaked your interest? Well, for the A students who read the title of this blog, they can deduce that his nickname is Jack. This is a self-proclaimed nickname, by the way, because his proper name does not have any way of breaking down to Jack. Give up? This course is on C.S. Lewis. Clive Staples - author, poet, philosopher, theologian, teacher, student, and just about one of the most intelligent men that have entered into this wonderful thing called Church History.
For my own part, C.S. Lewis became a part of my life when I was very young, and my father would read The Chronicles of Narnia to me. As I learned how to read, I slowly started reading them back to him, a chapter a night. Thus began my love for reading, for story and for the mystical land of Narnia itself. As I grew older, Lewis remained a strong part of my life. I read the letters to Screwtape, I wrestled through what it meant to merely be a Christian, and I attempted, at a pre-mature age, to understand the journey of the Pilgrim's Regress (which I re-read this past weekend and I still need an Encyclopedia for many of the movements and philosophies that are mentioned). When I started my undergraduate education, I was introduced to what are now my three favorite Lewis works - Till We Have Faces, A Grief Observed and The Great Divorce. Lewis became not just an author of wonderful fantasies and philosophy, but he became my teacher and instructor in greater things:
- what does it truly mean to love unconditionally,
- how are we able to see anything clearly in this world,
- have I truly abandoned everything of this world and started the walk on blades of grass that will not be plucked,
- how does one observe grief and believe in a sovereign, loving God
Lewis has taught me more than I think he ever believed or intended possible from these small books. He opened up a completely new way of thinking and brought questions to my mind that I never had before. In short - C.S. Lewis has been God's instrument in teaching me throughout my walk of faith.
Recently, we were asked to read Surprised By Joy, this is Lewis' autobiography of his journey to Christian faith. He is very open in it, for the secretive man that he was. He shares briefly of pain, of loss, of deep-seated hurt, of struggles, but than he shares openly and honestly about Joy, about longing for something that cannot be named - sensucht, about expression, about far-off lands of imagination and about homes that require a cup of tea and a good book in every room. Everything about Lewis draws me in - his wonderful mind that is able to be both analytical and creative is something one day I hope to be able to say of my own.
It has been his notion of longing or sensucht that I have been focusing on lately. He was trying so hard to find Joy, but when he finally reached the longing, he discovered that Joy was not even it - Joy was merely a signpost along the way. Joy, as some of you know, was given to me as my middle name. I have always truly loved my name, Stephanie Joy. Stephanie means "crowned one" - so I have considered myself to be the Crowned One with Joy. Not that many would consider me to be particularly "joyous" in personality (I hear that snickering), quite the opposite actually. I am a rather sarcastic spirit who hears "Smile" a lot because apparently there is a permanent frown on my face.
However, I do not think that being happy is the correct meaning of Joy. Joy is not necessarily loud and flamboyant, it is also not always marked with a smile. I truly believe that Joy is a part of faith. This is something that I have thought through now for almost 10 years. Where there is contemplative peace - Joy is. Where there is inexpressible worship - Joy is. Where grace and mercy abound - Joy is. Joy is far deeper than mere happiness. Faith in God the Father, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Spirit happens and Joy exists for us, not as a longing, but as reality. Lewis longed for something, thinking that it was called Joy, but when he discovered his longing in the Incarnation, he realized that Joy was just something that came with the Faith.
I want to leave you with the words of Lewis in Surprised By Joy on this subject, because let's face it - as much as I love to write, and think that I do a pretty descent job at it, Lewis waxes more eloquently than I am capable of.
"In so far as we really are at all (which isn't saying much) we have, so to speak, a root in the Absolute, which is the utter reality. And that is why we experience Joy: we yearn, rightly for that unity which we can never reach except by ceasing to be the separate phenomenal beings called 'we.' Joy was not a deception. Its visitations were rather the moments of clearest consciousness we had, when we became aware of our fragmentary and phantasmal nature and ached for that impossible reunion which would annihilate us or that self-contradictory waking which would reveal, not that we had had, but that we were, a dream."
Have I intrigued you enough yet? Peaked your interest? Well, for the A students who read the title of this blog, they can deduce that his nickname is Jack. This is a self-proclaimed nickname, by the way, because his proper name does not have any way of breaking down to Jack. Give up? This course is on C.S. Lewis. Clive Staples - author, poet, philosopher, theologian, teacher, student, and just about one of the most intelligent men that have entered into this wonderful thing called Church History.
For my own part, C.S. Lewis became a part of my life when I was very young, and my father would read The Chronicles of Narnia to me. As I learned how to read, I slowly started reading them back to him, a chapter a night. Thus began my love for reading, for story and for the mystical land of Narnia itself. As I grew older, Lewis remained a strong part of my life. I read the letters to Screwtape, I wrestled through what it meant to merely be a Christian, and I attempted, at a pre-mature age, to understand the journey of the Pilgrim's Regress (which I re-read this past weekend and I still need an Encyclopedia for many of the movements and philosophies that are mentioned). When I started my undergraduate education, I was introduced to what are now my three favorite Lewis works - Till We Have Faces, A Grief Observed and The Great Divorce. Lewis became not just an author of wonderful fantasies and philosophy, but he became my teacher and instructor in greater things:
- what does it truly mean to love unconditionally,
- how are we able to see anything clearly in this world,
- have I truly abandoned everything of this world and started the walk on blades of grass that will not be plucked,
- how does one observe grief and believe in a sovereign, loving God
Lewis has taught me more than I think he ever believed or intended possible from these small books. He opened up a completely new way of thinking and brought questions to my mind that I never had before. In short - C.S. Lewis has been God's instrument in teaching me throughout my walk of faith.
Recently, we were asked to read Surprised By Joy, this is Lewis' autobiography of his journey to Christian faith. He is very open in it, for the secretive man that he was. He shares briefly of pain, of loss, of deep-seated hurt, of struggles, but than he shares openly and honestly about Joy, about longing for something that cannot be named - sensucht, about expression, about far-off lands of imagination and about homes that require a cup of tea and a good book in every room. Everything about Lewis draws me in - his wonderful mind that is able to be both analytical and creative is something one day I hope to be able to say of my own.
It has been his notion of longing or sensucht that I have been focusing on lately. He was trying so hard to find Joy, but when he finally reached the longing, he discovered that Joy was not even it - Joy was merely a signpost along the way. Joy, as some of you know, was given to me as my middle name. I have always truly loved my name, Stephanie Joy. Stephanie means "crowned one" - so I have considered myself to be the Crowned One with Joy. Not that many would consider me to be particularly "joyous" in personality (I hear that snickering), quite the opposite actually. I am a rather sarcastic spirit who hears "Smile" a lot because apparently there is a permanent frown on my face.
However, I do not think that being happy is the correct meaning of Joy. Joy is not necessarily loud and flamboyant, it is also not always marked with a smile. I truly believe that Joy is a part of faith. This is something that I have thought through now for almost 10 years. Where there is contemplative peace - Joy is. Where there is inexpressible worship - Joy is. Where grace and mercy abound - Joy is. Joy is far deeper than mere happiness. Faith in God the Father, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Spirit happens and Joy exists for us, not as a longing, but as reality. Lewis longed for something, thinking that it was called Joy, but when he discovered his longing in the Incarnation, he realized that Joy was just something that came with the Faith.
I want to leave you with the words of Lewis in Surprised By Joy on this subject, because let's face it - as much as I love to write, and think that I do a pretty descent job at it, Lewis waxes more eloquently than I am capable of.
"In so far as we really are at all (which isn't saying much) we have, so to speak, a root in the Absolute, which is the utter reality. And that is why we experience Joy: we yearn, rightly for that unity which we can never reach except by ceasing to be the separate phenomenal beings called 'we.' Joy was not a deception. Its visitations were rather the moments of clearest consciousness we had, when we became aware of our fragmentary and phantasmal nature and ached for that impossible reunion which would annihilate us or that self-contradictory waking which would reveal, not that we had had, but that we were, a dream."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)