Lewis on Hope

I have finished reading, "Mere Christianity," by C. S. Lewis. It was fantastic! I learned a lot about humanity and practical faith. My favorite was the chapter on hope:

"Aim at Heaven, and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither." p. 112.

"Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. The longings which arise in us when we first fall in love, or first think of some foreign coutntry, or first take up some subject that excites us, are longings which no marriage, no travel, no learning , can really satisfy...There was something we grasped at, in that first moment of longing, which just fades away in the reality." p. 113

"Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists...If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing." p.114

My friends, I hope that you, like me, will spend this day, and many others, searching for the real thing, until, at last, we all find it.

Punishment?

This week, I got an e-mail from a young lady that just finished reading one of my books. Her first comment to me was that she thought I was "a great Christian" and she wished she could be as "good" as I was. I was shocked, and I immediately replied that I am no better than anyone else, that my walk with God is minute by minute and day by day, just like everyone else's. I said that all we needed was a willing heart to follow where He leads us, and He will do the rest. She followed up with a comment that she thought that she was going through difficulty in her life because she made God angry when she stopped going to church.

Of course, that led to a lengthy conversation, but in the end it made me think about something else: why do we always head straight to the idea that God is angry at us, and that all of our trials are a form of punishment? I know that God will ultimately judge us each, and this may be the underlying fear that most of us have, but that is not all God is about. Judging us is more like some task He has to perform, but it is certainly not His main objective.

God is about love and relationships. This is the theme of the entire Bible. Would Jesus have died for us, if He were motivated by anything but a love that we can't even comprehend? Would God have stooped to our level and intermingled with humanity through the life of Jesus for any other reason? Does He offer us grace, mercy, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, if all He wanted was to punish us?

I think that when we make mistakes, or even choose to do wrong, that God is not sitting up in heaven, making a list like Santa Claus, thinking to himself, "Boy is S/he going to get it!" Instead, I think He has compassion on us and opens His arms to us, saying, "It's okay. I know what you are going through. I forgive you. Let me help you put it back together."

It is my prayer that we all accept His invitation.

Resistance Training

This morning I was going to share what I have been learning from C. S. Lewis, from his book, "Mere Christianity," but I have something else to share instead, so you will have to wait for my thoughts on Lewis for another day.

This morning, as with most mornings, I was working out. However this morning, I shared my workout with someone else. You see, last summer we got 2 new kittens. One of them is still small and timid. She is such a sweetheart. But the other one...well, he is a tiger in a domestic cat's clothing! He happened to be in the house this morning while I was working out.

During the aerobic portion of my workout, he sat watching me intently. Then, I got out my mat for floor work. I got down onto the mat and started doing crunches. The cat, however, took the opportunity to attack what, to him, was an obvious foreign life form that needed to be dealt with: My ponytail! Imagine trying to do sit-ups with a cat attached to your head.

Of course, I am a type-A person, so I couldn't just stop my workout and deal with the cat. So, I guess you could say I just finished the set with extra resistance. Then it was on to push ups. You would think the cat would go away after the sit-ups, but the push ups provided an extra level of entertainment: Not only was there a ponytail to kill and destroy, but he could hide in the "tunnel" to do it!

So there he was, sneaking under my belly, grabbing at my ponytail, which was hanging down beside my neck. He would just about reach it, then ... squish. He would back up as I came down, still keeping his eye on the prize. As I would raise up, he would crawl back under and grab, and down I would come.

Somehow, I finished my routine with my ponytail intact, and Zeus did not get smashed in the process. When I laid back for a stretch, he climbed up on my chest and nuzzled my nose, rubbing up and purring, letting me know that he had sooo much fun this morning. I petted him and smiled.

Tomorrow, the cat goes outside!

A Hall of Doors

Since my books have been published, I have been thrilled to have helped many people to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It has been amazing! Many of them have been baptized and have joined various churches. I have often wondered if I should be doing more to encourage these people to join my church instead of just any church. After all, if I didn't think my church was the right one, why would I keep going?

I was grateful to find the answer in a book I am now reading, which I am sure many of you have read. (If not, pick up a copy, it is brilliant!). I am reading, "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. In the preface, he gives an analogy that truly impressed me. In it he describes the idea of "Christianity" as:

"It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in. For that purpose the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think, preferable."

He goes on to explain how one should choose a room, "In plain language, the question should never be, 'Do I like that kind of service?' but 'Are these doctrines true: Is holiness here?' Does my conscience move me towards this? Is my reluctance to knock at this door due to my pride, or my mere taste, or my personal dislike of this particular door-keeper?' "

He goes on, finally, to say to those of us already in a "room": "...be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house."

So, in the end, which do I think is more important, that others know my church doctrines, or that they know my Jesus? The answer is obvious!