C. S. Lewis
Steve and I have been staying at my parents' place this weekend. It's just so warm there, what with the gas fires and heat-holding concrete foundations and un-tin-can-like construction. I woke up early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so got up and sat curled in front of the heater in mum and dad's front room. I watched dawn grey the sky and read C. S. Lewis' A Grief Observed for a few hours. I've been quite upset this weekend, and have been raiding Dad's bookshelves looking for comfort. It was the right place to go. I found and read all of The Great Divorce yesterday and have finished A Grief Observed this afternoon. Tonight I'm starting The Weight of Glory and hope to find a copy of Mere Christianity in a bookshop tomorrow. The Problem of Pain is on its way from ABEbooks.com.
Having been such a fan of the Narnia series and Out of the Silent Planet / Perelandra / That Hideous Strength from childhood, I can't believe I've never read Lewis' theology. Not that you can really call it theology - allegory and memoir are more accurate for the two I've read so far. The clarity and logic and sheer sense of his writing are extraordinarily powerful. The books deliver what I rarely find in any of my reading; they open a window to what's really important in life. They show (to borrow from Edith Wharton) the "beyondness" of things. Reading C. S. Lewis takes me out of myself, makes me understand again how enormous God is; how throughout all our strivings and grievings and decisions and pleasures, he watches us with such love, allowing everything, preventing nothing, only hoping that eventually we'll turn to him. It's inspiring and comforting and just what I needed.
Love So Divine
In the shadow of my days
When comfort is so far away
And hope is on the cross
I lift my eyes and wholly gaze
Upon the Saviour's perfect face
What mercy love hath brought
My every hope and fear
Is resting here
With thee
Chasing through a selfish maze
Of reckless and uncertain days
Our God pursues each heart
And tests even the purest thought
For hope not built upon his rock
What grace his love imparts
My every hope and fear
Is captured here
With thee
My one hope in thee remains
Thy spirit everyday sustains
Oh, risen lamb of God
I lift my voice to sing thy praise
With all the saints redeemed by grace
What mercy love hath bought
My every hope and fear
Is gathered here
With thee
When at the final trumpet cry
I’m caught up to my Saviour's side
What joy our hearts shall find
And on that day of glory I
Will recognize my heart's desire
My God, how great thou art
My every hope and fear is raptured here
With thee
Take what is mine
I couldn’t change the smallest part of me
Make me wholly thine
Love so divine
Saves every part of me
Saves all of me.
-The Smalltown Poets
Having been such a fan of the Narnia series and Out of the Silent Planet / Perelandra / That Hideous Strength from childhood, I can't believe I've never read Lewis' theology. Not that you can really call it theology - allegory and memoir are more accurate for the two I've read so far. The clarity and logic and sheer sense of his writing are extraordinarily powerful. The books deliver what I rarely find in any of my reading; they open a window to what's really important in life. They show (to borrow from Edith Wharton) the "beyondness" of things. Reading C. S. Lewis takes me out of myself, makes me understand again how enormous God is; how throughout all our strivings and grievings and decisions and pleasures, he watches us with such love, allowing everything, preventing nothing, only hoping that eventually we'll turn to him. It's inspiring and comforting and just what I needed.
Love So Divine
In the shadow of my days
When comfort is so far away
And hope is on the cross
I lift my eyes and wholly gaze
Upon the Saviour's perfect face
What mercy love hath brought
My every hope and fear
Is resting here
With thee
Chasing through a selfish maze
Of reckless and uncertain days
Our God pursues each heart
And tests even the purest thought
For hope not built upon his rock
What grace his love imparts
My every hope and fear
Is captured here
With thee
My one hope in thee remains
Thy spirit everyday sustains
Oh, risen lamb of God
I lift my voice to sing thy praise
With all the saints redeemed by grace
What mercy love hath bought
My every hope and fear
Is gathered here
With thee
When at the final trumpet cry
I’m caught up to my Saviour's side
What joy our hearts shall find
And on that day of glory I
Will recognize my heart's desire
My God, how great thou art
My every hope and fear is raptured here
With thee
Take what is mine
I couldn’t change the smallest part of me
Make me wholly thine
Love so divine
Saves every part of me
Saves all of me.
-The Smalltown Poets