Desiring vs. Intending
Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken and still obeys.
- C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Remodeling
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.
- C.S. Lewis
Making good on your promise
(The Christian) does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.
- C.S. Lewis
On Writing (Part I)
Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.
- C.S. Lewis
I think that the best comedians are philosophers at heart. They pay extra careful attention to the details in life. They look more closely than most. They call attention to things which don’t seem to belong. They see clues that others ignore. Clues begging to be discovered.
You might be wondering what this has to do with writing. I’m not really sure, but I thought it sounded deep and reflective. Maybe it is because my favorite writers are the ones who help me to see things I’ve never noticed but always noticed at the same time. They do so in a way that is different, surprising and full of raw energy.
Discovering your passion is like seeing that girl at a party. You see all kinds of girls at a party. Still, every once in a great while, there is that one girl who makes you want to look for a third and fourth time. You don’t know what it is, but your heart is drawn to her. You can’t get her out of your mind. You have to know everything about her. Immediately. There is something about her that won’t let you go.
It’s like running a stud-finder up against a wall. You pass through open spots until you feel something coming on. The signal gets stronger and stronger until your finger is on the pulse of what matters most at that point in time. You brush up against a pocket of something that is both solid and hidden. You’ve found your spot to dig in.
A lot of people say that writing is about finding your voice. I disagree. Being a good writer is about being in tune with what is going on. Writing isn’t about finding your voice. Writing is about mining your heart.
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. – Luke 6:45
I believe…
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
- C.S. Lewis
Love hurts
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.-
- C.S. Lewis
Dying of thirst
“If you’re thirsty, you may drink. Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.
“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill.
“Then drink,” said the Lion.
“May I – could I – would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill. “Will you promise not to-do anything to me, if I do come?”
“I make no promise,” said the Lion.
“Do you eat girls?” she said.
“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.
“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.
“Oh dear!…I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”
“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.
C.S. Lewis (The Silver Chair)
