I was first introduced
to Lewis’ writings by Pastor Dan Berg.
While tagging along with the Berg family on a trip to Kinasao camp at
Christopher Lake in Saskatchewan I was able to enjoy the nightly reading
sessions when a chapter or two from the Chronicles of Narnia were read
out loud to the whole clan. I remember
being captivated by this imaginative world with its unforgettable characters, especially
Aslan the lion.
In college I found
others who appreciated C.S. Lewis, and we would often talk about what we had
read, and how that had opened our minds to new understandings, new perspectives
and new questions. It was at this time
that I first read Lewis’ space trilogy, having become a Science Fiction fan in
High School, and once again I was drawn into Lewis’ world of layered meaning
and Christian significance.
C.S. Lewis was never
trained as a theologian, and never claimed to be one, yet his way of discussing
matters of theology and spirituality shaped my theological thinking. Thus while
Lewis was never referred to in my Seminary training I find that whenever I attempt to discuss matters of the Christian
faith with another person it is significant how often I will refer to an example, or quote from
Lewis. This is not to say that I always
agree with Lewis – there are plenty of points of contention, but these areas of
disagreement are only a small percentage of what Lewis has set forth, and most
of them are created by a cultural difference that comes from living over half a
century apart.
Over the years C.S.
Lewis has become so significant to me that when my wife and I travelled to Europe
a few years ago, to celebrate our 25 years of marriage, it was important to me
to include Oxford in the itinerary.
While in Oxford we took a C.S. Lewis Tour with Ron Brind, who was a
childhood friend of Lewis’ step-children. We got to see Magdalen College where
Lewis taught, the Eagle and Child pub where Lewis met weekly with a group of
friends known as the Inklings, Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry where
Lewis worshiped every Sunday for most of his adult life, and most significantly
The Kilns, the home of C.S. Lewis from 1930 until his death in 1963.
Three years later the
whole family went to Europe, and again we made our way to Oxford where I took
in a week long course at Wycliffe College and the family took in the sites of
Oxford. Once again I was able to visit
these significant sites for C.S. Lewis.
Also on that trip we visited Westminster Abbey in London, and I was
surprised to discover that C.S. Lewis was not commemorated in Poet’s Corner – an
oversight that is happily being rectified this very day.
Thus today, 50 years
after his death, in honor of Lewis’ memorial being dedicated in Poet’s Corner
in Westminster Abbey, and in my small way to help Lewis’ significance not get
totally lost in all the hype and nostalgia around J.F. Kennedy’s assassination (conspiracy
theories et al.) I intend to daily post a quote from C.S. Lewis, along with a
picture from Oxford related to Lewis’ history for the remainder of this year. I thought it appropriate today to post a
picture of Lewis’ grave along with this quote from Mere Christianity:
There is no need to be worried by facetious people who try to make the Christian hope of “Heaven” ridiculous by saying they do not want “to spend eternity playing harps.” The answer to such people is that if they cannot understand books written for grown-ups, they should not talk about them. All the scriptural imagery (harps, crowns, gold, etc.) is, of course, a merely symbolical attempt to express the inexpressible. … People who take these symbols literally might as well think that when Christ told us to be like doves, He meant that we were to lay eggs.
Thank you C.S. Lewis
for your wit and wisdom, your imagination and insight – may your legacy
continue to flourish for fifty more years and beyond.
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