Ode to CS Lewis

Well I thought I'd give a little nod to Mr. Lewis, my family probably thinks Im obsessed but I cant help it. I've been reading one book after another so I keep quoting him.

The first book I ever read of his was- The Great Divorce- It was an idea of Heaven and Hell and the imagery he created was so different then anything I had ever read. It was prefaced with him saying it wasnt him prophesying what Heaven and Hell was but rather he was using a creative allegory to express some views he had about afterlife. These ideas (that I can remember) were 1. That God is loving and wants us to be with Him in Heaven and 2. That the only person that could stand in our way was ourselves and 3. He wanted to express that giving up our sins is a great trial for us and they can ultimately make up our identity and be extremely difficult to forsake.

I was hooked by his style of writing and his ideas and continued to read whatever I could get my hands on. I just finished reading- A Grief Observed- and I was blown away by his candidness. It is essentially a journal of his thoughts after his wife died. This great Christian writer's faith was so incredibly shaken and he is so forthcoming with his feelings and doubts. But at the end he paints this picture of Heavenly Father that I cant get out of my head and I know I'll never forget, after all of his questioning he imagines Heavenly Father shaking his head- not in a way of disdain but rather in a very loving and sympathetic way saying... "Peace Child, you do not understand." There are many things I dont understand and imagine in the future there will be many more but I feel I'll always think of that image of Heavenly Father and know that there are just some things we wont understand in this lifetime.

I am sad he is not alive to give us anymore of his insight. I feel the same way about other great writers and especially of LDS prophets. At any rate he's pushed Casey and me to push ourselves. Since everyone in my "blogging network" is LDS, Im sure you knows as members (generally speaking) we go through times when we just go through the motions and then there are times when we are filled with an overwhelming desire to be better and I am grateful for these times and try to make them last as long as possible. Awww man I hope this doesnt sound all high and mighty. OK just pick up a Lewis book.