CS Lewis Likes Final Battles!

harbarger theory:earthy spirituality is heavenly

I finally have gotten back to good ol' Jack (as his family called him). Not sure how they got Jack as a nickname for Clive Staples Lewis, but ...

I finished the Space Trilogy with That Hideous Strength where the nefarious N.I.C.E Institute was working in concert with the "Macrobes" or the Eldil that is in control of Tellus (earth) comes in conflict with the powers of right that is headquartered in a home in St Anne's led by our old friend Ransom.

But, so as to not offer any more of a spoiler, I'll simply deal with a small part of the final battle at the end of the book.

To empower the forces of good, the Eldils who have never visited the quarantined planet, Tellus, come to visit and lend firepower. When Perelandra (Venus) comes, all who are in the vicinity of her coming, find themselves a bit amorous. This is without a hint of apology. How refreshing!!! The human couples are married folk and they get a bit frisky and seem to like it. I like that!!! It's about time!!!

Also, the Eldil Malacandra (Mars) comes down and inspires humans and animals to lay a whuppin' on the bad guys ... again without apology. Sometimes (even for a pacifist like me) bad guys need a whuppin'! It happened. Must have been frightening though for those receiving the whuppin' to have it laid down by tigers and wolves and such. YIKES!!!

I've always been a person who believes that real spirituality includes human emotions and tendencies. Within the right relationships, amorousness is a GREAT thing. It can and should happen ... as often as possible. And, sometimes bad guys need to be stopped. These are just human reactions.

I think our tendency as folks of faith is to promote a spirituality that is nice, but a little forced and maybe sterile. I don't find that to be a faith that is attractive. I think a proper faith is about enjoyment (and that includes physical enjoyment), laughter and also resistance to that which is wrong (and that may include physical resistance).

In the end, let's worry a bit less about those things that bring us physical enjoyment (within bounds, of course) and more about making our hearts right with God. After all, we belong to a faith that starts with getting the heart right and having the heart lead our behavior. If ... for me... swearing is something that gets between me and God, then I need to stop it. If ... for you smoking or drinking gets between you and God, then you need to stop it. But, we find that out by submitting our hearts to the leadership and sovereignty of God.

Of course, this is not a license for licentiousness (how about that for alliteration??). You know better than that. But, it is a call for us to lighten up a bit and let God deal with our hearts and to support each other in the process.

CS Lewis celebrated physical resistance to evil and the physical celebration of love. I think we should too!! So, go get all snugly with your spouse. Go ahead, the blog will be here when you get back. Just go. GO!!!!

And, stand up for what is right ... even if it puts you in harm's way or forces you to come into opposition with the powers that be. Fight injustice. Speak truth to power. Denounce evil. Look it in the eye and tell it to leave and never come back. Do it as often as you need to and if you need someone to watch your back, call me. I'll back you up!

In the end, be comfortable with the body God gave you and use it for the glory of God. Love your loved one. Fight evil. Laugh deeply. Cry from your heart. Feel with your heart. These are God's gifts to you. Enjoy them!

harbarger theory:earthy spirituality is heavenly

Sci-Fi can be so deep

harbarger theory: sin doesn't HAVE to reign supreme

In this installment of CS Lewis' science fiction trilogy, we experience the protagonist, Elwin Ransom, distinguished philologist/linguist being asked by the Malacandrian (Mars) Oyarsa (archangel or archon) to take a trip. Ransom doesn't know where he's going nor what will happen once he gets there.

The cosmology of this book is that this is the first planet to be populated after the Christ event on Thulcandra (earth) and therefore all sentient beings after the Christ event are human (or at least humanoid).

The conflict in this book is about whether sin will come to Perelandra (Venus). Will the inhabitants of Perelandra be as bound to sin as we are here on Earth. What a fantastic concept! What if ... we still lived in the Eden state? What if ... we could still "walk with God in the cool of the evening?" What if ... ?

Also, the way Evil arrives in Perelandra and the way it tries to tempt "The Lady" (the Eve character) is interesting and the way that Ransom deals with the Evil is equally interesting. If I went further, it would be a "spoiler," so I shan't!

But, what if we were sinless and simply did God's will? Some of us would believe that to be a boring life, others would find it exciting and most of us simply can't conceive of it. But this is what we were designed to experience. In fact, I believe that "returning to Eden" is the biblical vision of redemption. It's not to live on vacation our whole life, but, rather that we walk with God at all times and in all places. We may be tempted, but we never, ever ... not ever ... succumb.

Oh, I ache for that reality! Lord, let it come soon! Let me be free from my rebelliousness and my need to please everybody ... but You. Let me return to Eden!! Amen.

harbarger theory: sin doesn't HAVE to reign supreme

Sci-Fi can be so true!

Harbarger theory: us thulcandrans sure are bent

Just finished reading “Out Of The Silent Planet,” the second Christian book that CS Lewis wrote and the first in his “Space Trilogy.” Written in 1943, it is an interesting book of science fiction that pre-dates Sputnik and the US space travel by over a decade, and of course UK space travel by … well, they still don’t do it, so … FOREVER!!!

Not wanting to offer a spoiler, I can talk about the idea that we here on Thulcandra, as they call it on Malacandra (or Earth as we non-Martians call it) are bent people. We are under the relentlessly bent nature of our own Oyarsa (we call him Lucifer, the Adversary, the Devil or Satan) and therefore, our own understandings of this world and the way all of life should work are bent.

Wouldn’t it be a grand thing to work at what we love and not worry about money and who’s (paycheck, house, status thingee) is bigger? Wouldn’t it be a grand thing that we would be able to recognize the actions of the Divine all around us (as the people of Malacandra were able to see the Eldil {angelic creatures})? Wouldn’t it be a grand thing to simply love each other, so savor the joys of life that we lived in harmony, and serve God without question?

This, my friends, is what theologians call “getting back to Eden.” It is this humble blogger’s opinion that “getting back to Eden” is what Christ referred to as the Kingdom of God. It is my life’s work to help folks realize that powerful dream of every single person living here in the Kingdom of God, living in the newly realized Eden, making Thulcandra like Malacandra.

Let us all work to make God’s kingdom come and God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven!!

Harbarger theory: us thulcandrans sure are bent

Some autobios are just weird

harbarger theory: sometimes allegories need more context

This is the first of my musings on the writings of CS Lewis that I will be sharing over the next year as I attempt to read all of the Christian writings of CS Lewis in the order in which he wrote them.

It wasn't until I finished "Pilgrim's Regress" that I realized that this is not an allegory of the human pilgrimage to faith like Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." Rather, this was an allegorized telling of the pilgrimage that CS Lewis himself made toward faith.

Knowing this makes this story A) more understandable and B) more enlightening as to why he chose these characters. Lewis wrote this book in the highly allegorized style of Bunyan, of course and used the device of a journey toward the "Island" as the reason for the journey.

Although some parts drag (probably because I don't possess enough insight into Lewis' life and thought to catch the inside references), it's an interesting book that makes me wonder how I would write about THIS pilgrim's progress (or regress) (or digress?) toward faith. Instead of Vertue and Reason, would I have been more likely to write about Politics or Nature or Sensuality?

What would you write about as you make your own pilgrimage toward or away from faith?

The heavy allegory made it hard to read at times, but in the end, it leaves me thinking about my own faith pilgrimage and wondering when or if I'll ever get to the end. I suspect not ... at least on this temporal plain. I suspect that the journey is where it's at, anyway. It's not about the top of the mountain, it's the climb that's the important part. It's not about reaching the end of the trail, but rather the conversation around the campfire along the way ... or the solitary sunset watched while looking over the lake that one evening. Those are the REAL gems, aren't they? I think so.

So, I invite you to journey with me or on your own as we pilgrimage our way through life seeking the presence of God and experiencing it through the company of others. The Island that John sought was just over his shoulder and experienced in the company of others.

The Kingdom of God is about relationships, not "correct doctrine" or "proper etiquette" or even big honkin' churches. It's all about relationships and the sooner we all realized that the sooner the Kingdom will come!!!

"Pilgrim's Regress" - I found it hard to slog through, but a winner in the end!!! An interesting way to start the year!!

Reading is good!

harbarger theory: my brain may explode this year.

I have embarked this year on what some may say is a foolhardy endeavor. I will say that it may tax my feeble little brain!

I am attempting to read ALL of the religious writings of Clive Staples Lewis (CS Lewis to most of us and Jack to a few of his closest friends and family). Not only did he write a LOT of stuff, but much of it is thick and weighty.

For those of you who are not a religious writings geek like me, CS Lewis held an endowed Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University. That's why I'm not reading ALL of his writings. A lot are about literature that I don't always even understand. So ... only the religious stuff for me!!!

Although CS Lewis was raised in the church, he turned his back on it and became a self-avowed atheist. However, through the patient friendship of no-name dudes like JRR Tolkein and the sort, he worked his way back to the Christian faith and became one of the pre-eminent Christian writers of our century.

Since I'm trying to read all of his stuff this year, I decided to read it in the order he wrote it. I've purchased a couple of anthologies of his books, and with the books I already have in my own library, I'm already pretty close to having his whole catalogue!!! Still need to get a few, but ... I'm on my way.

I will be blogging about each book as I read them, so watch here for more "Fun With Clive."

However, if you come into the church office and find my brains leaking out of my ears, you'll know that this endeavor has made my brain explode. Oh well, no big loss, eh???

harbarger theory: my brain may explode this year.