A timely reminder from C. S. Lewis to me

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealing with another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit- immortal horrors and everlasting splendours. This does not mean we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously, no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner- no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latita the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden"- C. S. Lewis, "Weight of Glory"

Writing, Thinking, Living, Transforming

"The point is that we live such a wi-fi-enabled, out-sourced, off-site, backed-up life that we use our brains for little more than remembering where we store our passwords than what it is (stories, ideas, responses, reflections) they protect. Ours has evolved into such a non-oral tradition "tradition," that the thought of memorizing sonnets from a poem or narrative stories from the Bible for meaning and not information seems archaic and unnecessary. If we think we need it, we can find it; we don't need to learn it. And if we don't think we need to learn it, well, who cares?"~Craig Dunham

 "Biblical literacy programs need to do more than produce informed quoters. They need to produce transformed readers."~David Nienhuis

Craig Dunham is a teacher of New Testament and Ethics at one of the local Christian private schools. He has written three posts, so far, to his blog detailing the difficulties his students have in expressing themselves in writing and what he see as the causes of those difficulties. This first link would be hilarious if it weren't simultaneously troubling and sad on a number of levels. His other posts talk about biblical and theological illiteracy , illiteracy problems in general (and this is not limited to "Why Johnny can't read."/phonics/whole language questions), and  the influence an incorrect understanding and use of technology has on this developing problem. All factors combine to create young adults who have no foundation for thinking through an increasing complex world that they, and we,  must live in. More links and thoughts later.

Integration

Sometimes things I read, see, hear, etc. come at such a time and in such an order I am helped to see some part of life more clearly and sometimes it happens to be what is the foundation of life and living. MMV calls it synchronicity, serendipity, and synthesis. Whatever you call it, it's about living a life of integrity. What and how you think informs how you live and how you live informs what and how you think.

Via Scotty Smith:

"Christian maturing is a process in which the most fundamental layer of our identity becomes our self-understanding as a new creature in Christ, along with all our privileges in him." Tim Keller

Via Half-Pint House:
When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of Glory died;
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

*HT-to MMV for the terms

Embodiment of Beauty

"...What a traditional woman did that made her home warm and alive was not dusting and laundry...Her real secret was that she identified herself with her home...her affection was in the soft sofa cushions, clean linens, and good meals; her memory in well-stocked storeroom cabinets and the pantry; her intelligence in the order and healthfulness of her home; her good humor in its light and air. She lived her life not only through her own body but through the house as an extension of her body; part of her relation to those she loved was embodied in the physical medium of the home she made."


"Modern housekeeping, despite its bad press, is among the most thoroughly pleasant, significant, and least alienated forms of work that many of us will encounter even if we are blessed with work outside the home that we like...housekeeping actually offers more opportunities for savoring achievement than almost any other work I can think of. Each of its regular routines brings satisfaction when it is completed. These routines echo the rhythm of life, and the housekeeping rhythm is the rhythm of the body. You get satisfaction not only from the sense of order, cleanliness, freshness, peace and plenty restored, but from the knowledge that you yourself and those you care about are going to enjoy these benefits."

"Our homes are the center of our lives, and we should allow time and resources to mke the most of them that we can, and to care for them in a way that consolidates and elaborates their meaning for each of us. At a minimum, we should avoid thinking that time spent on our homes is wasted time, or that our goal should always be to reduce the time and effort we spend on them."
--Cheryl Mendelson's Home Comforts, Chapter One.

Slowing down

"The transformation of my soul into Christ-likeness is incredibly snail-paced, and yet there are moments when I sense the heat of the Holy Spirit slowly at work within."~Margie Haack

Margie Haack has an article in Comment that gives insight into the growth we can recognize a little better when we slow down and anticipate instead of hurry from one moment and experience to the next. Her example of slowing down meal preparation, enjoying our work, waiting for the fruit of our labor, and then sharing in the joy eating the meal with another, is one simple but profound way of showing us that what we do, how we live and how we think inform one another and are all part of the Holy Spirit's work to transform us.

Obedience to Faith

"Reading Oswald Chambers, yesterday, he writes, "Spiritual muddle is only made plain by obedience. Immediately we obey, we discern." Seems awfully close to Ransom's credo, "developing discernment, deepening discipleship." Sometimes I put it this way: moral commitment precedes epistemological insight. We always do live out of our hearts: we see and hear and feel out of our hearts." -Steven Garber

Buckley on Criticism

"One often hears it said that one should ignore criticism. I do not agree that it is always wise to ignore criticism of oneself and one’s endeavors, even when the criticism is ill-natured, exhibitionistic, and predictable. For even when that is the character of the criticism, there is sometimes something to be learned from it not only about oneself and one’s critics, but about the world we live in."

-William F. Buckley Jr., Aug. 1, 1956, National Review

Workin' hard for a livin'

Here's a link to a great article on working hard and saving.

Ashbrook Center