Matthew’s Comments (group member since Feb 13, 2011)

Matthew’s comments from the C. S. Lewis group.

Well put cody, I have often that Christianity was and is not a religion... that in a very real way God gave up on religion (at least with regards to fixing our relationship with God) and gave us the very power of Creation by pouring out the Living Creative Word into the person of Jesus Christ. So Yes, Christianity is NOT a religion it is a relationship, it is about identity given NOT EARNED, LOVE your image of it not being about us chasing after a pretentious pious perfect God, begging for a pardon!! HOw often have we heard those images... we have to FIND GOD, I'm hoping to FIND MY FAITH... anyway I'm rambling now too... I have a retreat with my church council this Saturday and I think some of this is definitely going to have to come out in discussion.

I have had similar discussions with others with whom I have been acquainted over the years.

The general feeling or ethos of such discussion is rooted in a desire to have a conversation rather than being focused on converting "the other" person to MY way of thinking, experiencing, or understanding Life, the Universe and All Things...

1 Peter 3:15 calls us out to be ready to give reason for the hope that we have because of our faith in Christ Jesus... we do not have this hope because of the humans who are part of the church... we do not have this hope because of the church buildings... etc... we have this hope because God's word which is Christ who is made known through the message of law and gospel and pointed to throughout the Bible continues to bring this Word and the power of his presence to us through the proclamation, faith and life of the church (which is his body) - oh and FYI when someone says the church is "full of hypocrites" if it is appropriate I like to say, OH its not FULL OF hypocrites there is always room for more hypocrites like me!

Okay so I rambled... the long and the short of it is YES I have found using CS Lewis to be a good evangelism partner in sharing the truth of God's Living Word and God's message of love and invitation to become a part of what God is up to in the world.

Carol, not sure if that was what I was trying to say but I don't disagree with what you are saying... I have recently started thinking that most of what I say or write in any given moment should come with the disclaimers "in my opinion" and or "according to the experiences I have had" ... so I don't presume to understand PAIN as a universal concept and experience for others by any means... and yet, as a pastor I have walked with so many people through so many different types of pain and painful experiences that I have started to see patterns in behavior and responses from the various personalities... which makes sense when one thinks about it since we are all human and share so much by simply sharing this small island we call earth.

You make some wonderful points about the need to learn to receive help and how hard that can be for so many people... I've moved on to reading C.S. Lewis' small book on grief and it has this interesting section on being an embarrassment.

In this section he says... "Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery's shadow or reflection: the fact that you don't merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer. I not only live each endless day in grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief.... An Odd by product of my loss is that I am aware of being ad embarrassment to everyone I meet.... Perhaps the bereaved ought to be isolated in special settlements like lepers."

Coupling these reflections from Grief and Problem of Pain, I think about the fact that people don't like to be uncomfortable and that people feel uncomfortable when they see someone suffering or when they don't know what to say to someone who has suffered a loss or is living in Pain... Seriously!!! How often can you say to someone in Chronic Pain that "I'll pray for you!" when at least in that small room in your heart where your controlled cynic makes their living space you add on... "But I can't promise that it will help you in any way."

But for me the key is to not make someone else's grief or pain "about me" ... its not about what I know to say or if I can provide comfort... I have found healing power in the words... "There really isn't anything good to say in the face of something like this but Please know I grieve with you and for you and am deeply sorry for your loss."

And other times just living the words from Holly Cole's song, "Cry if You Want To" where the singer promises not to try and cheer you up... not to try and fix the situation that cannot be fixed.

If you haven't heard the song here is a vid I made with it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUByAC...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUByAC...

Hope you enjoy and get something out of it.

But as I was saying most times I try and follow that example in times of grief and pain ... I can't fix what has been broken and as often as I have prayed for the power I cannot as of yet lay on hands and heal the pains that people suffer physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually... much to my chagrin!

With CS Lewis as I read both The Problem of Pain and Grief... I am again assured that pain and grief are universal emotions and experiences that we all share and I therefore don't HAVE to fix them or cure them to walk with others in and through them... but that sure doesn't make such times any easier to get through as we all well know.

Reading this book once again I am struck by the following quote

"We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it."

It seems to me that this is how so many of us treat our relationship of faith (indeed many of our relationships)... its a safety net or a source of "good feeling" to know that it is there JUST IN CASE...

How do we then take the universal reality of the experience of Pain and grow that into connections that we tap into more often than just when we are in crisis? What does it take in the moments when we are not suffering on a personal level to get us to seek out those who are suffering either in our neighborhood, our church, our home (especially if we have teens in our life) -

How can we build AAA relationships where we open ourselves to each other and invite each other to be authentic, available, and affirming of one another?

For me it begins with recognizing that suffering from pain is not a sign of weakness or a sign that there is something "wrong" with me or you or anyone else... pain is something we universally experience... it is a sign and a symbol that something is happening. Sometimes that something is good... such as in child-birth (so I am told) sometimes it is not so desirable ... such as in that moment you step on that protruding nail and as it breaks the skin you flinch back so it doesn't get shoved all the way through your foot...

When we get to a place in our relationships with others where we can freely admit and reveal the things and moments that cause us pain, then we know we are seeing each other for the whole self we truly are...

What say you all??

The Problem of Pain

A Place for group discussion regarding the problem of Pain by CS Lewis that some of us have decided to read together... join us even if you didn't start a week or so ago (March 11thish 2011) ... Feel free to read and remark as the spirit moves you.

Carol and all... if you have never read this book I would very much recommend reading the preface as well (I have friends who always skip the preface) but with regards to this book it is important to note that Lewis wanted at first to be allowed to write this book anonymously because he felt that he would have to make bold statements about pain that would become redonkulous if people where to know who made them. Instead he was told to write this preface which essentially boils down to the admission that Lewis makes saying he does not live up to the very principles he puts forth in this wonderful little IMMENSE book.

For myself... when I was a child I read the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and found myself wondering... where did this wardrobe come... why does it take the kids into Narnia?? what is this magic all about???

Reading in chronological story order helped me to feel the true depth of Lewis' world.

Knowing the origin of the wood from which the wardrobe was made, and the adventures that were embedded within the grains of each inch of that wardrobe are powerful images in my mind as I read the rest of the series... as are the other aspects of the story... the child who gets what is asked for because they pray rightly instead of just taking when they are able and encouraged by the White Witch who would become the False winter queen...anyway I will say no more at this time other than to say it helped me experience the story and create the world in my head in a way that allowed more enjoyment of the journey...

Am I round the bend in thinking that the Chronicles of Narnia starts with The Magicians Nephew?

To answer the question in the topic... To get a sense of CS's basic theology I would start reading Mere Christianity
Then I would read The Great Divorce
The screwtape letters
Then start the chronicles. That's not how I did it but it is how I would do it if I could do it all over again.

I've never read, but do own a copy of "the problem of Pain" shall we all pick the Day of March 9th to begin reading and give ourselves a week or at least a few days to read and whenever you are moved by something to share just post here?