Avoiding God
C.S. Lewis had this to say about avoiding God. The avoiding, in many times and places, has proved so difficult that a very large part of the human race failed to achieve it. But in our own time and place it is extremely easy. Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads…
Continue readingAs To The Lord
The work of a Beethoven, and the work of a charwoman [cleaning lady], become spiritual on precisely the same condition, that of being offered to God, of being done humbly “as to the Lord.” This does not, of course, mean that it is for anyone a mere toss up whether he should sweep rooms or…
Continue readingSolitude
I went away for a few days to be alone with God. I had some decisions to make about the future and I wanted to hear from God. I believe that he can and will guide me. I believe that I am to be open to his guidance in my life; but, it is hard…
Continue readingHistory of Humanity
In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis offers this summary of history. That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended – civilisations are built up – excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery…
Continue readingQuiet Miracles
When Jesus performed miracles during his time on earth many people were present who did not know that a miracle had taken place. Think of his first miraculous sign in which he turned water into wine (John 2). There were many present for the wedding but only a few knew what had happened. The disciples…
Continue readingIs Christianity Hard or Easy? – an excerpt from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
No preamble or discussion required. The ordinary idea which we all have before we become Christians is this. We take as a starting point our ordinary self with its various desires and interests. We then admit that something else – call it ‘morality’ or ‘decent behaviour’, or ‘the good of society’ – has claims on…
Continue readingHome, Hard To Say What It Is
I once again find myself thinking about the concept of home. Home is so much more than a house or a city or a family or a marriage or a collection of people with whom we feel an affinity. Home is at the deepest core of what it means to be human. Coyotes have dens…
Continue readingA First Faint Gleam of Heaven
One of the things I love so much about the writings of C.S. Lewis is his ability to write succinct, clear sentences. He has the ability to say things that I already believe yet he says them in a way I could never have said them. I read his words and think, “Yes, that is…
Continue readingPrayer Changes Things Follow-Up
Many years ago I read a small book by Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho, pastor of the largest Christian Church in the world.1 Cho is a man who has devoted his life to prayer and has gone to great extremes to develop his prayer life. The book has had a large impact on me such that…
Continue readingPrayer Changes Things
I have an uneasy relationship with this quote by E. Stanley Jones: Prayer is surrender; surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself…
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