Tag C.S. Lewis

Driving Toward Morning’s 2023 in Books

Todd R 2 Comments

Dear fellow travelers,

As 2023 ends, many are posting reflections on the year, including book lists.  Figured I’d jump in again!  In 2022, I managed to read 22 books, but topped that in 2023 with 26.

What books did I read this year?

Let’s start with the fun ones.

Fiction books:

Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

Mostly Harmless is the last of 5 books in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.  The Silmarillion I tried to read way back in high school but couldn’t finish.  I finally got it in this year.

Classics:

Each year I try to fit in a couple of “classics,” although what books belong in that category is debatable.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Chosen was my favorite of these.  It’s a story of two Jewish teenagers in Brooklyn in and around the time of World War II.  One of them was a strict Hasidic Jew, while the other was not, and the book follows their friendship over time.

A few history books:

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Christianity Through the Centuries by Earle Cairns
Sacred Scripture, Sacred War by James P. Byrd

Erik Larson is one of my favorite authors, and this book covers the rise of Hitler, including why there wasn’t more opposition to him earlier, mostly through the eyes of the U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Byrd’s book is based on a study of hundreds of sermons delivered and/or published during the American Revolutionary War and covers the Bible verses and ideas that were used to motivate American soldiers.  Most interesting were verses whose interpretations changed to fit the preacher’s objectives, not objectives changed to fit Scripture.  For example, there were verses used to justify rebellion from England that were later used to justify submission to the new American government.

More non-fiction than usual:

Success Through Failure by Henry Petroski
Force by Henry Petroski
Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson
Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
The Elements of Style by Strunk & White

I read two by Petroski by accident.  One was recommended by a relative and the other by a book review I read.  Only when I started the second one did I realize it was the same author.  Both were interesting descriptions of engineering ideas for laymen like myself.

I hope to not break any of Strunk & White’s rules in my blog in 2024.  I initially read it during college, and finally came back to it for some light airplane reading.

Also more biography than usual:

Faithful Presence by Bill Haslam
Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
Pulitzer by W.A. Swanberg

Reading about Tolkien and Lewis back-to-back was very interesting, and not just because they mention each other.  I didn’t know much about Tolkien’s background and faith, and how those influenced his fiction, or much of Lewis’ journey of faith.

The Pulitzer biography was fascinating as background for why much of the media are the way they are today.  Pulitzer as publisher was driven by a political agenda and used sensationalist methods to bring in readership.  Pulitzer as man was a genius with an amazing memory, but also abusive of his staff and sometimes his family.

Plus a bunch of religious books and devotionals:

In addition to regular Bible and study Bible reading, in 2023 I read:

Is Europe Christian? By Olivier Roy
Rediscovering Holiness by J.I. Packer
2 books by my former pastor Glenn Parkinson: A Larger Faith: the Book of Daniel and Peter’s Principles: Learning to Follow Jesus
The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis
3 books by Warren Wiersbe: Be Committed (Ruth/Esther), Be Determined (Nehemiah), and Be Patient (Job).
Morning by Morning by Charles Spurgeon

Roy’s book discusses different ideas of how a country or region can be considered Christian, then whether Europe meets his criteria. I found the parts about “what is a Christian country?” more interesting that the question asked in the title.

I read the Four Loves for the first time because someone recently compared one of my posts to the book.  Much of the book isn’t theology, but more practical observations about human relationships.

I picked up Wiersbe’s entire “Be” series in 2021 as part of a digital subscription and am working through it over time.  A long time.  I like his overall approach and the books are a great source of thoughtful stories and quotes.

26 is lot for me, and how many will I read in 2024?  Who knows…in the meantime, have you read any of these 26?  What books did you enjoy in 2023?

Letting God Set the Agenda

Todd R 1 Comment

One of the most significant ways the media influence us is by what’s called “agenda setting,” which means is that they tell us what is important and what we should care about by choosing what issues or topics to cover most often and most prominently.  For example, if a topic appears regularly on the front pages of newspapers or the covers of magazines or in the “Breaking News” of a TV news program, those editors have decided those items are more important, and want us to feel the same.  Unfortunately, there’s also an old saying in journalism that “if it bleeds, it leads,” meaning that bad news should get more coverage because it’s good for the business of journalism.

Related, but not the same, is “framing” which means the way the media covers something (the words they use, the sources they cite, etc.) affects our attitudes about it.  When the media consistently use words like “radical” or “extreme” to represent only the other side, or if they lump all the news that bleeds to a specific group of people and not another, they’re employing framing.

The problem is that the same issues aren’t always as important to all people, and often the media’s agendas don’t align with what should be each person’s agenda.  It’s like news coverage is designed to make us think the world is so evil that we can’t do anything about it, but also that very little is our own responsibility (or fault).  As Corrie ten Boom wrote about her time in a Nazi concentration camp: “this was the great ploy of Satan in that kingdom of his: to display such blatant evil that one could almost believe one’s own secret sins didn’t matter.”

Is it really good or healthy to feel all the world’s problems are on our shoulders? However, all media have to make choices about what to cover and how to cover it, so there is no avoiding these problems…unless you have another source for your agenda and the framing of it.  That source is God, and here are some verses from His word that can guide us:

Cast Your Anxieties
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:6-7

We can recognize that there is a sovereign God, and ultimately His agenda is the only one that matters.  With that knowledge, we know that there are many times where all we can do is pray to the One who sees all the bad news we do, and much more.  He is in control.

If It’s Worthy, It Leads
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” – Philippians 4:8

We can recognize that good news isn’t always easy to find, but we should seek it out, even if it’s in our own homes, families, or neighborhoods.  There is always something worthy of praise to pay attention to.

Frame Your Responsibility Locally
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10

Too much attention to the big picture problems of the world can distract us from the work God has put right in front of us, which we were created to do.  God wants us to be faithful, not to save the world (He has already done that!)

I agree with C.S. Lewis, who wrote: “I think each village was meant to feel pity for its own sick and poor whom it can help and I doubt if it is the duty of any private person to fix his mind on ills which he cannot help. This may even become an escape from the works of charity we really can do to those we know. God may call any one of us to respond to some far away problem or support those who have been so called. But we are finite and he will not call us everywhere or to support every worthy cause. And real needs are not far from us.”

Yes, global problems matter and there is always a lot of bad news, but today let God set your agenda and frame it through the lens of His eternal victory in Christ.

When We Are Faithful, All Failure is Temporary

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Doctor Strange with the Time Stone

In the Marvel movie Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Strange uses a powerful Time Stone to watch millions of possible future outcomes and find one where the Avengers win.  The solution involves huge, almost unconscionable losses, including giving the villain, Thanos, exactly what he needs to commit genocide.  The movie was part one of two, and the second wasn’t released until a full year later.  Infinity War ends with Thanos victorious, and audiences had to wait to see if Strange’s decisions and sacrifices would work.  Would the trust the Avengers put in him be rewarded and lead to their deliverance?  It didn’t look good at the time, and it was actually a pretty grim movie.

Marvel’s story had cast Strange in the role of a prophet, except that Strange himself saw the future, and decided himself what to report back to the others, who had to trust what he said he saw, his judgement in what to share, and be willing to stick with it no matter what.  In the Old Testament, Jeremiah’s call from God to be a prophet in Jeremiah 1:8-10 has some interesting comparisons with Marvel’s story line.  The verses are:

“Do not be afraid of them,
            for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.
Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,
            “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
            to pluck up and to break down,
            to destroy and to overthrow,
            to build and to plant.”

Unlike Doctor Strange, Jeremiah did not have the big picture; he could not pick and choose what to say.  God would “put…words in your mouth,” words specifically chosen from perfect and infinite knowledge to be exactly what was needed.  Strange was able to act on his plan, although the others didn’t understand and resisted.  In Jeremiah’s case, Israel did not listen to him, and God actually told Jeremiah they wouldn’t, but he prophesied anyway.  He was created for that purpose, and in the verses above he was assured to “not be afraid of them.”

While Strange promised that his plan would work, we had to wait for the sequel to see it.  God promised Jeremiah, who also told the people, that his plan would work, and that the words God gave Jeremiah would determine the fates of “nations” and “kingdoms”, who God would “pluck up” and “break down.”  But Jeremiah died waiting for the sequel.  During his lifetime, Israel was plucked up by the Babylonians and sent into exile as punishment for their rejection of God, which was also a rejection of Jeremiah.  His life was like a pretty grim movie, but his story was not finished, as we now know.

In his lifetime Jeremiah may have looked like a failure, but in the years after and in eternity, his work as a prophet and also his personal experience of God has provided invaluable lessons for millions.  God knew this from the beginning because He didn’t have to wait a year to see the sequel.  He has already seen them all.  Therefore, we can trust what He sees, His judgement in what to share, and be willing to stick with it no matter what, because His story and ours does not end in this lifetime.

“It is not your business to succeed, but to do right. When you have done so the rest lies with God.” – C. S. Lewis

(Prior posts on Jeremiah’s call are here and here)

Memorial Day Meditation

Todd R 5 Comments

In an essay in The Weight of Glory[1], C.S. Lewis wrote: “the sun looks down on nothing half so good as a household laughing together over a meal, or two friends talking over a pint of beer, or a man alone reading a book that interests him.”  As we celebrate Memorial Day here in the United States, I pray you can enjoy what matters most to you and give thanks for others who sacrificed to made it possible.

In the same essay, Lewis says “all economies, politics, laws, armies, and institutions, save insofar as they prolong and multiply such scenes, are a mere ploughing the sand and sowing the ocean.”  These cannot deliver our salvation, yet they are absolutely necessary in this life.  These institutions have “no higher end than to facilitate and safeguard the family, and friendship, and solitude.”  Therefore, give thanks whenever peace and fellowship are possible, and pray for those living in places where they are not.

The essay also includes this quote: “do not let us mistake necessary evils for good.”  What did Lewis mean?  That when things that exist to provide “family, and friendship, and solitude” become an end in themselves “what was undertaken for the sake of health has become itself a new and deadly disease.”  While these things are absolutely needed, we should think of them “only in order to be able to think of something else.”  On the other hand, “a sick society must think much about politics.”  Therefore, give thanks for those who faithfully serve, and for preservation of the freedoms you enjoy.

Most importantly on Memorial Day, give thanks for those who gave up their lives so those they left behind could enjoy “family, and friendship, and solitude.”  Without their sacrifice, we could not celebrate Memorial Day, or any other day.  “Great sacrifices of this private happiness by those who have it may be necessary in order that it may be more widely distributed.”

Jesus said: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) As He gave His life for you, pray also for the ability, willingness, and freedom to sacrifice your own time and talents for others.

[1] Lewis, C.S.  The Weight of Glory (1941).  P. 161-162.

Goodness By Design: A Quint of Quotes

Todd R 1 Comment

Fellow travelers,

Here is another “Quint of Quotes” from my collection, on the theme of “Goodness By Design.”  I did not group these together by accident…

Photo by Leighann Blackwood on Unsplash

“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes” – Sherlock Holmes, in Hound of the Baskervilles

“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” – Carl Sagan

“Even if you’re an atheist, you face…the problem of good…if the world is a chance assembly of accidental phenomena, why is there so much that we want to praise and celebrate?” – NT Wright

“A moment after they have admitted that good and evil are illusions, you will find them exhorting us to work for posterity, to educate, revolutionize, liquidate, live and die for the good of the human race” – CS Lewis, in Miracles

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” – Philippians 4:8