On Being an “X”

Those of us who have delved deeply into C. S. Lewis’s writings are still sometimes alerted to one of those writings that we either have forgotten or either have not grasped the significance of it in an earlier reading. That has been the case with me in teaching my course on Lewis’s essays the past couple of months. I naturally included most of the “big” ones that everyone mentions, but as I developed the course, I came across a few… Read more »

The Road to Joy

I have used C. S. Lewis’s autobiography, Surprised by Joy, every time I have taught my Lewis class at the university. I’ve also used it in an adult class at my church. The title perfectly expresses the end result of Lewis’s early life as he finally turned to Christ. For years, he sought something he defined as “joy.” Three moments in his childhood stood out to him with respect to his quest for joy. The first was when he “stood… Read more »

The Clean Sea Breeze of the Centuries

Some of C. S. Lewis’s essays found in collections today were not written as “stand-alone” pieces but rather connected to other works. One prime example is “On the Reading of Old Books,” which first appeared as an introduction to—well—an old book. In this case, it was (as noted on the left) St. Athanasius’s The Incarnation of the Word of God, which testifies to that early Christian Father’s fidelity to what we now call the Nicene Creed. Athanasius was exiled from… Read more »

Life in the Lord & Lewis

The first half of 2024 is going to be a banner time for spreading the Good News through the lens of C. S. Lewis. So many opportunities have opened for me to do so that I want to share them one by one. At Southeastern University, I will be teaching my Lewis course once again. Students will be exposed to the scope of Lewis’s writings—apologetic, fiction, and the more personal ones. They will begin with his autobiography, Surprised by Joy,… Read more »

The Decade of New Focus

The end of another year looms. This time of year, as we look forward to Christmas and a new year that will probably be quite similar to the current one (that’s both good and bad), I have a tendency to reflect. That’s not a bad idea, of course, given the subtitle of this blog. My reflection will be a pondering on how God has given me a new focus over the past decade. And that new focus centers on this… Read more »

Kindred Spirits in Romania

Doors open, and when the Lord is the One who opens the door, we should enter in to what He has for us. That’s how I looked upon the opportunity to go to Romania and participate in the C. S. Lewis and Kindred Spirits Conference this past week. The theme of the conference was “The Re-Enchanted Academic,” and I was pleased to offer a presentation in the very first panel. That’s me—second from the right, in preparation for the presentation…. Read more »

On the Edge of a Precipice

Out of all of C. S. Lewis’s superb essays, two stand out to me. As with many others, I am enthralled by his war-time sermon (turned into an essay) “The Weight of Glory.” It is Lewis at his highest peak of wordsmithing. The other one that has always captured my attention is “Learning in War-time,” which, like “The Weight of Glory,” was a war-time sermon that became an essay. The question raised in the sermon/essay is whether, during a time… Read more »