Essay

"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." –C.S. Lewis

            Throughout this course, this quote has stuck with me. I went into this course thinking that it was just a core that I had to get out of the way, and that sounded interesting but I did not expect to get anything out of it.  However, looking back on these last three weeks it is very obvious that God had something different planned for me. On the first day after reading “Meditation in the Toolshed” I realized that maybe I was getting more than I bargained for. It had never occurred to me before that day that one needs to look along something. I mean what is that? I have always said to myself it is what it is, and now someone was challenging me to something totally different.

            C.S. has one reoccurring theme and that I believe is this quote, saying that we as Christians are far too easily pleased, and I think it is because we do not have the capacity to fully understand what God has in store for us. I think that because we are not able to understand the things that God has in store for us we as Lewis says are like the “Ostrich with our head in the sand.”  Lewis points out that we are constantly trying to find things to fill this void with Earthly things, but we have never experienced the joy of eternity so we cannot find anything to fill this void.  

            We are like children making mud pies; we try to fill this void with things that will not give us everlasting joy. Like in “We Have no Right to Happiness” we will try to fill this void with whatever we can. We will destroy the lives of other people in order to try and secure our own happiness. “We fool around with drink and sex.” How many Christians do we know that go out and party on the weekends and then go hung over to church on Sunday?  Not only are we not being Christ like we are using other things to substitute for him.  This also reminds me of the “Screwtape Letters” where Screwtape is telling his nephew Wormwood that it is actually beneficial for their patient to keep attending church. His patient is to feel the “dim uneasiness,” so that he is uncomfortable enough to keep attending church and associating with other Christians, but not too uncomfortable to think that he needs to repent.  He is demonstrating the typical lukewarm behavior that Christians have. We want to have that relationship with Christ, but it is so often that we do not want to do what God calls us by giving up Earthly things. We want to keep the things of this Earth, and we want the things of God’s kingdom. However, Revelation 3:16 says “So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Even though we feel content right now, God says that he will disown us when judgment day comes. Screwtape himself says “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” We will have our fate secured in Hell before we even realize it if we become too easily pleased.  Some Christians may want to say “Being a dedicated Christian is too hard!” However, we learn in “Mere Christianity” that it really all starts very simply, even those who are not Christians can agree that we need to all live by the same moral code. However, we tend to slip back into the tendencies of sin and instead of acting as a body of Christ we start to break each other down, and sometimes competing with one another to see who the best is.  Within the church we try and see who can be on the most committees, give the most to the church, and volunteer the most.  However C.S. Lewis says "It is not for us to say who, in the deepest sense, is or is not close to the spirit of Christ." It comes to my mind that sometimes we seek the approval and praise of our peers over our God. We want that immediate Earthly gratification.

            Like I have been saying, this theme from Lewis occurs time and time again in his writing, he tells us that we are not realizing the joy that awaits us. We are perfectly content with acquiring the things of this world, but what good will these do us? We can’t take our corvette to heaven.   Lewis again brings this up in “The Poison of Subjectivism.” He tells us that if water stands to long, it begins to stink. So, if we as Christians become stagnant in our faith, we will begin to stink. The devil will take hold of us, and we will be on that gradual slope to Hell.

            Also, during this interim we read Engaging God’s World. I found that Plantinga and Lewis had a lot of the same views. When reading Chapter three I was surprised by the statement that Plantinga makes saying that evil needs good to be evil. Evil is not something that comes about on its own, it is because of our sin and the fall that there is evil. When our good intentions get misconstrued is when evil occurs. Also, I have learned how easily we sin without even thinking, I started to re evaluate how I did things throughout this course and I realized that I was sinning without even thinking about it. I also realized that the biggest way I sin is judging people before I have a chance to meet them, and ultimately judging how I was better than them. It is just as Screwtape says a slow and gradual road into Satan’s arms.

            Even though sin is overwhelming, and the inability to remain pure for God and his kingdom is impossible in my Earthly lifetime there is also an overwhelming hope. 

"The glory of God's good creation has not been obliterated by the tragedy of the fall, but it has been deeply shadowed by it" (Plantinga). How wonderful! All is not lost, even though we have done absolutely everything that we can to disappoint God, and really do the worst things a child can do to their father we are told that all is well. We are not lost; God is still going to save us. He will welcome use with open arms and say “Well done my good and faithful servant,” Even though we have not been faithful the entire time. We have been faithful in our repentances, in saying “God I was wrong, please forgive me and guide me in your way.”  

            Even though this Earth seems to be more that I am made to handle, I have this everlasting hope, and someday it will be joy in my redemption. God has shown me that this life is a gift, and if I live my life for him, someday I will be rewarded. I, and all Christians need to keep this hope alive in our hearts so that we do not become too easily pleased, and we keep striving to live our lives for God.

The world shall live with the lamb. the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them" (Plantinga).

Works Cited

Lewis, C.S. The Screwtape Letters. N.p.: HarperOne, 2001. Print.

Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. N.p.: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001. Print.

Lewis, C.S. The Weight of Glory. N.p.: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001. Print.

Lewis, C.S. The Poison of Subjectivism N.p.: HarperOne, 2002. Print

Plantinga, Cornelius. Engaging God's World. N.p.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002. Print

Plantinga :Chapter 5

Plantinga talks about the Kingdom of God in this chapter. When reading this like when I was reading "Learning in War Time" I was thinking about how easily we loose sign of God's kingdom. We get too caught up in the things of this world that we forget about eternity. I think that because our world teaches us to be concerned about ourselves and the things we can to get to gratify ourselves in a short amount of time. No one wants to focus on eternity because it will not make them happy right now.

However, we need to remember that in everything we do we are to be stewards for God. Plantinga explains that we are called by his will. It is not always what we want to follow but it what we are called to do. I chose to be a nursing major, but that is because I felt a very strong call to do so. I have worked for two years as a CNA taking care of the elderly, and that is one of the greatest joys God has brought to my life. I think that God has seen a place where I can glorify him while seeking my vocation. I benefit spiritually from being able to help others, and being a missionary to them at the same time.

Man or Rabbit

Are you a man or a rabbit. Lewis always has the strangest ways of telling us how we are not living up to our full potential as Christians.

Lewis very clearly says that those of us who purposefully avoid becoming a Christian are worse off than those who had never had the chance to hear of God's grace. I can think of some different times where I have avoided God, I have stuck my head in the sand. When in high school, and it wasn't cool to act like a Christian.  The worst time of my life was when I was deliberately looking on the other side of the road, when God was clearly trying to get my attention.

I had lost my grandfather in a terrible accident, and decided that no God would ever do that to a family like mine. My grandfather had died while working for my father, and for years I watched him blame himself and take his anger out on others because he could not handle the guilt. I was not going to a God who had allowed such terrible things to happen the time of day.  I became severely depressed, lived everyday watching my family endure this awful desert.  Someone who saw me struggling suggest that I read the book "The Shack" In this book a father looses his daughter to a serial killer, and in his desperate attempt to solve the murder he gets himself into a terrible accident which lands him in a coma. When in a coma he thinks he is spending a weekend with the members of the trinity. God very carefully explains to this grieving father that we begged him for free will ,and because we have the ability to chose for ourselves some people make evil choices. God explains that he does not cause bad things to happen, but he uses the bad things to show us his love for us.

Finally it clicked with me. Yes, I had suffered a terrible loss, but look at what my grandfather had gained. He spend his whole life devoted to Christ and he was justly rewarded. He met the Lord at Heaven's gates and was told "Well done my good and faithful servant!" God also used this tragedy to re introduce me to Hope, and to know that even though things in my family had fallen apart, they could be repaired.  God works in mysterious ways, but we have to ready for him to work in our lives, even looking for it. If we keep our heads in the sand we will miss out on the greatest gift.

Inner Ring

When I read this blog, all I could think about was high school, and all the inner rings within it. I completely agree with Lewis is saying that the ring only looks like it will make you happy from the outside, but once within the circle one realizes it will not bring them happiness.

As I said, this reminds me of being in high school ,and the same thing is being repeated with my sister who is currently a freshman. She plays sports and recently decided she no longer wanted to play basketball. Less than a week later her group of friends decided that she was no longer allowed to be within their "inner ring." 
This is a harsh reality, but it all honesty this is how it usually goes in all senses. Most people want to keep their inner ring stable. That means not letting anyone new in, and cutting off those who decide to leave.
It is the same when a new kid moves to school, it is hard for them to make friends or become a part of a social circle, because it will change an already established dynamic. The thing I find the most strange is that even though, in my experience trying to become part of an inner ring or sometimes even being part of an inner ring bring us pain or is a burden. We would find ourselves totally lost without them.

"Men tell not only their wives but themselves that it is a hardship to stay late at the office or the school on some bit of important extra work which they have been let in for because they and so-and-so and the two others are the only people left in the place who really know how things are run. But it is not quite true. . . A terrible bore ah, but how much more terrible if you were left out! It is tiring and unhealthy to lose your Saturday afternoons: but to have them free because you don't matter, that is much worse."

Eros

This reading was very interesting to me, before C.S. Lewis I never knew that love had different names. Of course one loves their family different than their spouse but I never went any further than that.

I found this reading so interesting I think because I was looking at it from a married perspective. I never thought of me not being "submissive" to my husband was sinful, especially if it was because he had done something wrong or because I thought I had a better idea. I find it hard in a lot of areas of my life to not be in control. So, when I made this transition to marriage, it was all glorious for the first couple months, but then the grind of school came into play, managing a budget, and everything else in between.
It has been hard for me to remember what the Bible calls me to do as a wife. I am to listen to him and to love him, but he is also to do that for me.

When Tom, my husband and I were in premarital counseling he said "If Tom loves you the way Christ loves the church, then I promise you will have no problem being obedient." Amazing right? 

C.S. Lewis says "For the church has no beauty but what the bride-groom gives her; he dos not find, but makes her lovely." When first reading this, it may come off the wrong way. However, when I thought about it I remembered that you do not love someone because they are beautiful, they are beautiful because you love them.

It made me look back to a time when I was terribly sick with the flu, my head so congested that when I talked I sounded like a man, and I am sure that I just smelled like death warmed over. However, Tom brought me a glass of hot lemon tea and said you are so perfect, and you are taking this like a champ. I mean come one right? Was he out of his mind?  Lewis and the Bible both say no, I don't need to be all dolled up and in some tight pair of jeans for him to compliment me, because that is not why he married me.

If one marries only for the looks, they will be very disappointed.

Plantinga Chapter 4

" I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations. . . to be God to you and to your offspring after you." Genesis 17:7

What a wonderful gift! God has promised us his gift of Grace, and not only is it just our gift of grace but it is for all of those who come after us as well. Plantinga discusses in this Chapter that we have received a "Double Grace" this is justification and sanctification. We are justified in that our sins are forgiven and removed from us, then we are sanctified by acting Christ-like. We are to be like a child trying on a grown-ups clothes. We are not Christ, but we are trying to be like him.

"Christians are people who dress up like Christ, not because we want to deceive people into thinking we are better than we are, but because the only way we can become better than we are is by trying on our grownup clothes."  Like Martin Luther says our good works are not the cause of righteousness, but because we have been given that gift by God we are able to go out and do good things.

Another thing that just blew me away reading this chapter was that we can be "liberated and flourish." by obeying the 10 commandments. I would have never before reading this book thought that this was true. I have always thought that because I am a Christian and I want to be Christ like that I need to say no and deny myself. However Plantinga paints this beautiful picture of what life would be like if just for one day everyone obeyed the 10 commandments.

"Imagine what the world would be like if for even one day everybody lived in complete obedience to the Ten Commandments:. . . no murder; no stealing; no adultery that breaks up families. . . for one day all would tell the truth, give to those in need, protect their neighbors from harm, honor their parents, worship God with an appetite, and thus express love to God and to neighbor in a long undertow of joy."

This quote makes my heart soar, if everyone just worked a little harder to live and be like Christ, we would no longer dread turning on the evening news because it would not be smothered with stories of despair, but of joyous expressions of humanity.

We were made to be good, and I think that we sometimes forget that because we have been redeemed we need to commit our lives to living for Him.

Learning in War-Time

"Life has never been normal"

This quote from C.S. Lewis at first seemed to me to be humorous, and then once I started thinking about after we had watched the video of the woman in Brazil I started to feel sad. I started to apply this outside my life personally. I thought that while I sat in the classroom today, there were soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq fighting for their lives and my freedom. There were people in Brazil, Haiti, and many other places around the world just praying that God would get them through the day. I think how sad it is that our world has become this way, but what am I doing to help? I know that as a college student I am limited, or is that an excuse I am using? Lewis points out that yes things are going horribly wroung in our world, and people do make the excuse that they cannot stay in a classroom and learn because they are being called to save the world. However, we think that by donating money we will save the world which is not true. We need to be missionaries and spred the wonderful news of God.

"How can you be so frivolous and selfish as to think about anything but the salvation of human souls?"
How often do we as Christians even go a day without thinking about our own eternity? Not only do we fail to be concerned with our own souls, except for maybe on Sunday, but we are not even thinking about the souls of others. Yet, we are called as Christians to go out and spread the news of "great joy that will be for all the people."

We are called to live for God because he is infinite, he is what will be beyond the sorrows of this world. "Christianity does not simply replace our natural life and substitute a new one: it is rather a new organization which exploits to its own supernatural ends, these natural materials."   Too often we dedicate living this life to things that are finite "The rescue of drowning men is then a duty worth dying for, but not worth living for." Lewis explains that yes, it is important to do what we can to preserve the precious gift of live, but because there is an eternity the only thing we can dedicate our life to is God.