A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A Grief Observed is one of my favorite works by C.S. Lewis. I feel like Lewis’ honesty is what makes it so meaningful. Death and coping with grief is no easy challenge in this life, yet, it is a part of it. Watching my best friend lose her younger brother last December, being with her at the hospital, I remember feeling so completely helpless to ease her pain. I could just be there—be there and let her know that I was there for her. I ended up buying her this book before I had even read it because I thought it would be spiritually uplifting. I didn’t realize until reading it for the first time this week that it is a lot more than that.

What I find most refreshing about this grief observed is that it does not pretend that religion is a magical pill that will alleviate all of our pain in this life. Lewis highlights this well when he says “talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolation of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand” (25). The Atonement of Jesus Christ is a miraculous healer, but it does not work overnight. I like to think that time and Jesus heal all, but that does not necessarily mean we have perfect enough perspective to not be devastated by death. It should help, but it will not make it easy.

And yet, I think that is okay, especially within my own religious tradition as a Latter-day Saint. As Lewis says later in this book, perhaps this is a part of life and learning to become better, though doubts might creep in. But if we look to the Bible we see that Jesus wept for Lazarus even though He knew He could raise him from the dead. In the Pearl of Great Price we see God crying over the wickedness of his creations. Even watching President Hinckley and how he dealt with his own wife’s death was heart wrenching because his sense of deep loss was so apparent.

It is okay to weep. It is okay to mourn for what was and seems lost. It is okay to question at times. It is okay to doubt sometimes as well. The important part is that we work through those doubts and try to remain close to God throughout the process, even if it might feel like the last thing we want to do at the moment.


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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

This is my favorite book from The Chronicals of Narnia series.  And let's just begin by saying that the movie does not even come close to the book on this one.  Read the book!

Like most of C.S. Lewis' books, this one is packed with symbolism.  I had a hard time at first picking out some of those themes, but our class discussion really helped me out.

Here are Some Interesting Symbols:

Ramandu's table- like the sacrament.  It can never be exhausted.

Albatross- an image of Christ, comes from a space of light after Lucy prays for help.

The cup, swords, etc are like the Holy Grail.  They are numinous. 

The Place Where Dreams Come True- teaching us that we don't necessarily know what we want, suggesting that we pay attention to God's will

Goldwater- Greed, it brings down great people like Caspian and Edmund

Octesian's ring- Godly sorry and true remorse.

The 3 Sleeping Lords Using the Stone Knife- Could suggest that you cannot use holy things as a weapon against people.  The stone knife killed Aslan, the same way the cross killed Christ.  It could be suggesting that we should not fight over the cross, referring to conflict among Christian denominations.

The End- light, Heaven, goodness.  Drinking the water was like the good infection referenced in Mere Christianity.  Lewis argued that the point of Christianity was that it was supposed to change us.  It could also be about transfiguration.

A Whiff of Aslan's country- "it could break your heart," according to Lucy, but it was not sad. This is the joy that Lewis references in Surprised by Joy

The Dawn Treader- could be a reference to the course of a Christian life and the difficulties along the way

Predominant Themes in this Book:

Ability to Change- Eustace best represents this.  At the beginning he is a total brat and comes out as a hero and believer in Aslan by the end.  He shows the process of repentance and the necessary change of heart.

Vanity- Lucy, feeling like she was not being as pretty as Susan, gets into trouble and has to be reminded by Aslan that these things don’t matter.  Her Individual worth is not contingent upon looks.  Aslan reminds her of this and tells her to stop doubting it. 

The Nature of Death- by the end of the story, Reepicheep decides to travel into Aslan’s country.  It is death, but the way it is represented here it an adventure filled, exciting moment.   I’ve noticed Lewis portray death in this optimistic way in many of this other words as well—such as The Screwtape Letters.   

Danger of Greed- The pool that turns everything to gold best represents this.  Eustace is sucked into it, along with Caspian and other characters in the story, making it so Aslan is not able to access them.  It is corruptive, and the deathly nature of the pool suggests that it is dangerous. 

What it Means to Grow up- Lucy and Edmund were told that they could no longer go back to Narnia since they were getting too old.  Yet, Aslan reassured them that they would know him by name in their other world.  Knowing Aslan better in Narnia meant knowing him better in their normal lives.  Aslan is telling them that it is time to put these lessons and apply them to their adult experiences. 

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

I am so excited that we are moving into the Chronicles of Narnia.  I never had the experience reading them as a kid, and so in many ways I agree even more so with C.S. Lewis when he says that good children's books should be enjoyable for an adult audience.

We started our class discussion on The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Like Perelandra, this is a "supposal," not an allegory.  C.S. Lewis is not trying to say that this is the nature of how things are, but "suppose" God was acting in the form of a lion in an imaginary land, etc.  That is an important distinction to make.

This supposal was dedicated to Lucy Barfield, his goddaughter.  We talked briefly about the changes Lewis made through different publications and the orders, etc., but I'd like to take some time to talk about the symbols I find most pertinent to the story:

Peter- the head of the church after Christ leaves.  This one was pointed out in our class discussion.
Aslan- the Christ figure in the story
The White Witch- adversary, evil
Professor Kirke- I think that this name is not chosen by chance.  There was a Professor Kirk in Lewis' life who helped him become a Christian by teaching him to question things.  He is known in Lewis' autobiography, Surprised by Joy, as "The Great Knock."
Lucy- represents the threefold argument from Mere Christianity.  She is not a liar or crazy, so she must be telling the truth.
Statues- They come to life after the resurrection.  It could also be like the Tin Soldiers in Mere Christianity.
Witch's Castle- Like the realm of the dead/spirit prison.  Aslan leaps over the wall, showing that the gates of hell do not prevail against him
Turkish Delight- a spoiled good thing, as he discussed in The Screwtape Letters
 The Stone Table-like the Law of Moses
Father Christmas- Brings hope and cheer, talking about Aslan coming.  Could be compared to John the Baptist.
Gifts- spiritual gifts.  The cordial, for an Anglican, might be the sacraments
Edmund- could represent Adam, all of us, pride, insecurity, or perhaps Judas
Deep Magic vs Deeper Magic- Deep magic is the lower law while Deeper is the higher law, the kind that the White Witch does not understand.  Kind of like the new law after Christ came.

And then the obvious:  Death and resurrection through Aslan's sacrifice. 

Perelandra Symbolism

Reading Lewis' fiction for an older audience was a really interesting experience.  Perelandra is something of a sci-fi, the second book in a trilogy.  It is a re-telling of the fall of man, similar to Dante's journey.  While it was difficult to get into at first (mostly to orient myself with this new style), I really liked it.  Until I enrolled in this C.S. Lewis class I had no idea that he published adult fiction, yet, Perelandra has many of the same things that I've seen in his other works, like The Chronicals of Narnia.

There are countless symbols that Lewis uses in Perelandra, but I thought I would note a few of my own thoughts and some that we mentioned in our class discussion:

Ransom- A Christ figure, his name being significant of that.  He is someone we can relate to as well, helping us see what we need to do to be Christ-like in our own ways.  In class we also learned that Ransom was based on J.R.R. Tolkien.

Perelandra- Or Venus, is basically the Garden of Eden in an unfallen world.

Maledil- God in this story.  At times he lets the characters grow and develop on their own by staying behind the scenes.

Then Green Lady- An Eve figure, has never heard of evil, and is the victim of potential temptation

"The Bent One"- Satan, the fallen angel who has influence over Weston.

Weston- Not Satan, but a form of evil who falls under Satan's influence.  In a way he is like the snake who tempts Eve in Eden.  He is not like the Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost, and is generally kind of stupid until he enters into debate.  He never appears to sleep, much like sin.  Weston is overcome by pride in the end.

Fixed Land- represents temptation, the forbidden fruit.  It is more about obedience than anything, and the geography is significant.  The waves surrounding it represent God's own plan and intentions.

Cave- While there can be many things to draw from the cave, to me it seemed like the fact that this was a struggle away from the surface showed this ongoing fight between good and evil, that is always there, but not always visible on the surface.  The good won in the end though.  The entire scene is a descent and assent, symbolizing the resurrection and baptism. 

Red Lilies- Easter lilies near the tomb/spaceship, representing the resurrection.  The flowers are red because of the atonement and sacrifice that Ransom performed.

The Mountain- As in the case in many instances in scripture, the mountain here represents a temple, or a sacred space.

Eldila- Literally are angels, while other characters in the story are just representations.

The Sea Voyage- baptism, and renewal.

Ransom's Wounds- Ransom has a wound that will not heal while he is on Perelandra, representing the wounds of Christ that help Him and us to always remember that sacrifice.  It is a scriptural reference in Geneses as well, that Ransom's heal is bruised and the serpents head is crushed.  Lewis definitely used this intentionally.

There are many more symbols, but these were the ones I found that were the most powerful.  I look forward to another class discussion to make sense of a few more.  There are so many! I feel like the symbolism in Perelandra is more "in your face" than any of the Narnia books.

Midterm Time

This week was our midterm examination in my C.S. Lewis class.  It was  nice to review some of the books that I read at the beginning of the semester and link them all to each other, and so for that I was grateful for the opportunity, though testing always freaks me out.  The test consisted of free response answers to a few different prompt options, but there was one question that we all had to respond to.  I thought it would be the question at the bottom of the extensive study guide:

"the single insight of Lewis that has had the greatest impact on you; how Lewis' presentation was effective in reaching you; the results (present and potential) of this insight."

But it wasn't.  Still, I think it would be beneficial for me to write here what that response was for me:

It is hard to pick just one teaching of Lewis that has impacted me the most, but I would have to say a lucky bet would be that it would come out of Mere Christianity.  It actually leaked into a few other works as well.  What struck me the most from Lewis this semester was that those times when I don't feel like I quite fit in this world are feelings that are not only normal, but natural, because we are not meant for this world.  Lewis says that we are never given desires that were never meant to satisfy, and if they are not satisfied in this life, then they are in the next.  God would not instill in us that kind of momentum for no reason.

A main quote that supports this idea is found in Mere Christianity in the section called "Hope."  Lewis says that "most people...know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be hand 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...some subjects that excite us, are longings which no marriage, no travel, no learning, can really satisfy" (135).  Many people, and myself included, have spent their lives doing some of the things he suggests, "trotting from woman to woman, continent to continent, from hobby to hobby, always thinking that the latest is 'the Real Thing' at last," but find it did not quite quench that fire, leaving us "always disappointed" (136).

How many times have I looked at world travel and relationships as the answer to this inner longing I feel, finding that I am disappointed?  I have lost count.  I have always likened my life to the poem "The Name" by Don Marquis.  He describes this feeling well- "my heart has followed all of my days something I cannot name." I have always felt this inner void, this craving for something more, something bigger than me and life and words, wondering if there was just something wrong with me.

Lewis goes on to say that if we find in ourselves"a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation" is that we were "made for another world" (136-137).  This is the best answer I have ever had on the subject.  I feel like "following something that has no name" has been a lifelong question for me, and even a sense of frustration, but here Lewis has offered me an answer.

(Photo credit goes to Gurumustuk Singh)

Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis

Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life by C.S. Lewis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After reading so many books by C.S. Lewis, it was really nice to hear in his own words what life experiences he had that made him that unique individual. I am not the biggest fan of autobiographies in general, so I appreciated the companion biographical story told in The Essential C.S. Lewis, but I think Lewis does a pretty good job at honestly representing himself, particularly his childhood and educational career.

Things I did not know before (including bits from class discussion):

Lewis went by the nickname Jack. His mother died of cancer when he was a kid; he had little to no relationship with his father, and was an atheist the majority of his young life. It was “The Great Knock,” a mentor and teacher, who taught him to really question things, and though an atheist himself, it was these principles that taught Lewis to rethink atheism, which lead to his conversion to theism, and later Christianity.

Another insight from this that I appreciated was that Lewis did not trust emotions from a very early age. He seemed to be afraid of raw emotion, and I think that explains why he takes such a logical, rational approach to many of his arguments. Lewis also had a wild imagination. I loved reading about his childhood and the description of his house full of books. Without TV and video games, he was left to entertain himself with his own thoughts and rich imagination. I really like that, and that is something I hope to cultivate in my own children someday.

Something else I did not know: Lewis was also wounded in WWI and told his friend, Patty, that if he died he would take care of his mother. Apparently when Lewis moved in with her that lead to a rather interesting relationship—though Surprised by Joy does not mention that. Lewis does claim that he had a past before converting though, and that would only make sense.

I like this idea of joy that Lewis describes and the complexity of it. At first Lewis thought that was what he would have to give up when he became a Christian, only to discover that this was the opposite case. Joy tried to find him his whole life, but it came when he did not expect it. Joy comes in moments—in a sense of something beyond ourselves, something heavenly. Lewis also describes joy as an unsatisfied desire and kind of painful. The want of it is kind of like Heaven, in his opinion. We try to find joy fulfilled by false substitutes and through desire, but real joy is greater than pleasure or happiness. It also makes it the most valuable.

The book ended a bit abruptly to my liking. It seemed to focus mostly on his conversion to theism and not necessarily Christianity, and then it cut off from there. Again, one of the aspects I dislike about autobiography (and how blasted modest they try to be when I would rather just hear about their great accomplishments as unique individuals). I’m grateful for outside texts to give me more context for his life from a more objective point of view, and to hear more about the other aspects apart from his conversion (though that was, of course, important).

Until reading more on his life in The Essential C.S. Lewis, I also had no idea that his wife’s name was Joy. I think that is kind of ironic given the impetus of Joy that Lewis tries to answer in this autobiography.


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Miracles by C.S. Lewis

Miracles by C.S. Lewis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I hate to say that this was not my favorite C.S. Lewis book so far. Without a class discussion, I’m not sure I could have waded through half of the arguments Lewis brings up. It was intended for those who are skeptical of miracles, and that subject was definitely one that I have wondered about.

I am a Latter-day Saint, and I believe in miracles. But I have always been under the impression that God would use natural laws to govern those miracles, and they are miraculous because we do not understand them. In that sense, I never thought that God could break laws that he was bound to (but then again, he is God), but that leads me to one of Lewis’ main points:

He begins with the argument against the naturalist. He believes that in order to really be Christian we have to be supernaturalists, believing that there is more to nature, or our current reality—that there is a God in charge of it all.

Lewis argues that miracles do not discredit the law of nature because nature still works after the miracle occurs. We assume laws are all known, but there could be something higher that interferes. Just because there is interference though does not mean that the laws are not true. It just adds data, as Lewis said. The Virgin Mary was a good example he gives. The miracle was Mary getting pregnant, but after that nature took over. Her body acted just how it would have otherwise, and she gave birth in the way of nature. God and nature work together.

Along with that point, Lewis makes another stab at those who believe that modern day thinkers are somehow smarter than people from “the olden days.” Miracles are just as believable today as they were a thousand years ago, the difference is most people simply disregard them. Joseph might not have had a professorship at Oxford, but he knew that in order to have a kid you had to have intercourse beforehand. The miracle was no more believable then than it is today, so what is different?

Now there are certainly some differences of opinion between LDS doctrine and Lewis, but I thought his general argument for why miracles are more than magical, absurdities was beneficial. He argues that miracles are not just fathomable, but they are essential. I love how he can logically argue for the supernatural. It is not a supplement to faith, but it does make a nice companion.


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