I've worked my way through most of C.S. Lewis' mainstream works (all of the Chronicles of Narnia, Screwtape Letters, The Problem of Pain, and Mere Christianity,) so all I needed to finish was A Grief Observed, The Great Divorce, and Miracles (which we don't have yet.) Naturally, I picked the smallest one possible.
My cure for a reading road block, is to simply put it aside, and find a book that you can get through as quick as possible ie, A Grief Observed.
The book is the journaling of Lewis after the loss of his wife to cancer. It is not in a typical writing style, and is somewhat hard to follow, because he wrote it like he would carry a conversation. Also, there are no pauses or breaklines in between his entries, they are just all mashed together, so it is a little incoherent mostly. Sometimes he'll say something like "That was last night. Now...." So you know that the stuff immediately preceeding that was from a different day.
Weird, eh?
Right. But besides all that, I really liked it. It is a pretty depressing book, hearing one of our centuries' greatest author doubt the existence and goodness of God, but is reassuring, because it reminds you that he WAS human. In the end Lewis reconciles all of his doubts in a really powerful chapter.
I'm gonna tuck this one away, and read it again nearer a personal tragedy. I think I will be able to connect with it more then.
4 comments:
I LOVED The Great Divorce. It has been several years since I read it, but I thought it was excellent.
My husband has been reading some other of his books for a while now, and I will eventually get to them too.
A Grief Observed is on my list of books that I want to read soon...
Thank you for stopping by my blog! Your blog is very similar to mine as well! Same names and everything! Haha
I adore C.S. Lewis! I'll have to reread A Grief Observed. I unfortunately can relate to it too well right now. I appreciate Lewis' honesty about doubting God. Anyone who says they've never had a moment doubt causes me to question them. I don't believe real faith can occur without going through real doubt. It is easy to praise God when the sun is shining and things are going your way and you appear to be in the drivers seat. When your world is shaken like a snow globe- don't you even momentarily wonder what happened? Faith is really choosing to believe in spite of your emotion to doubt. It is discipline and reason, which is counter to anything emotional. God knows were human and emotional- He created us- He knows how we work! I believe when He sees us struggling to be disciplined in our faith in Him, He helps us through it. Dealing with my parents' health crisis has been really hard. I don't doubt God, I doubt myself constantly. It is also really difficult to keep emotions in check for both my family and my parents. God is always in control, but keeping myself in control is really tough. However, I have truly felt His hand on me in times I need Him! There are responses I've made that just seem like someone else is saying them through me-sounds crazy, but it is the best way I can explain it. I feel Him carrying me many times and I'm grateful. Thanks for writing a blog that always makes me think and also makes me smile! Love ya, Britt!
My Mum has read that C.S Lewis book several times and LOVES it! X.
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