Grief

Sometimes the news comes quick. Sometimes the news comes slow. No matter how or when it comes, grief travels in the wake of the news. Grief is heavy, weighty, a burden, especially when it involves someone deeply loved. Grief is not meant to be carried alone. It’s too heavy and may last a while—and that’s ok. That’s what family and friends are for, to share the load. Jesus stood outside the tomb of his friend and wept but He did not weep alone. It was a deep, human moment. “ Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted ” (Matt 5:4). If anyone knows how we feel in grief, it’s Him. But His grief did not linger long, as at the mention of his name, Lazarus came forth. We are not meant to dwell in grief, but should leave room enough for it. Let it run its course. Like the song says, “ Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain .” Another song says, “ The storm We will dance as it breaks The storm It will give as it takes And all of our pain is washed away Don't cry or be afraid Some things...

"The Problem of Pain" by C.S. Lewis (part 1)

[This is will not be a book review per se, but more of a lengthy interaction and summation, spread out over a number of posts--bite-size and eaily digestable portions of this challenging book.]

Lewis explains the purpose of his book, The Problem of Pain, as being a solution to “the intellectual problem raised by suffering.” Lewis expresses his personal feeling in the preface that he has nothing to offer his readers “except my conviction that when pain is to be borne, a little courage helps more than knowledge, a little human sympathy more than much courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all.” This is perhaps the best summary of the book, humbly presenting both problem and solution with such little complexity.

Lewis dedicates the introductory matter of the first chapter to building the framework concerning the rationale of religion (“awe,” generally speaking) through four elements: existence of Presence (the “numenous”) which through the fear of uncertainty builds in man the fear of inadequacy; morality (“ought” and “ought not”) and man’s failure to obey even his own code of ethics; objectivity of The Presence that guards morality, holding men accountable as “The Righteous Lord” (thus the contrary viewpoints of paganism and pantheism through non-moral religion or non-religious morality); and finally, Jesus, “the Something which is at once the awful haunter of nature and the giver of the moral law,” whose death affected our relationship with “the ‘awful’ and ‘righteous Lord,’ and a change in our favor.”

The Meaning of “The Problem of Pain”:

The meaning of the title, “The Problem of Pain,” is found in the situation that Christianity does not solve the pain (otherwise, pain would be no problem for the Christian); rather, Christianity creates the problem of pain because we must experience the righteousness of Christ in the context of the world. Lewis explains the logical conclusion of the world as those who reject God, who must separate from the poets, prophets and philosophers, even “with his own childhood, with the richness and depth of uninhibited experience.” The rejection of moral law calls for a separation from humanity, leading to barbarianism. Rejection of the Incarnation requires a separation from the assurance of history, reason and reality, “not made by us, or, indeed, for us, but hitting us in the face.”

Popular posts from this blog

Rock Me, Epictetus!

The Smooth-flowing Life