Author: al
Posted: 2009-02-10 22:57:12
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The 5 most important things I've learned from books
#5 My temple is a house of cards (A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis). When Lewis married his wife, she was already gravely ill. I don't know how anyone could have expected a different outcome. Yet, her loss was a faith shattering event for him.
I cannot pretend to know what misconceptions the Eternal will tolerate about himself, and which ones he will not. All I know is that most every faithful person goes through a series of rather brutal events where most of what they believe is taken from them. It can take years to gather the courage to rebuild amongst the ruble of your former faith, yet most people seem to do so eventually. Like a grape vine, properly pruned, you come back stronger the next time.
As a Christian, you can guarantee that your Creator will do this to you at least once. Brace yourself.
#4God's peace is his most unforgivable quality (The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton). When Syme is faced by the real Anarchist, the only thing he cannot forgive, is the peace of God. This didactic little exchange hit me like a ton of bricks, in a book that had already unleashed epiphany after epiphany.
Have you ever been asked “How can a loving god allow such-and-such a horrible thing to happen?” The key word in that question is “Loving.” If we did not preach that forgiveness is yours to request, then this question would never come up. With all of the terrible things we do as a people, it isn't hard to reconcile with the idea of a vengeful and angry god.
What seems dissonant to the unbeliever, is how we run around happy, and at peace, and forgiven while all of these atrocities go on. What's worse, we say that we are loved for no particular reason. The final straw, is that we offer the same rewards to the most horrible people among us. The thought of it all is a little incredulous, and we must be careful not to flaunt the gift of Joy.
#3 Things that grow are not always things that remain (What I Saw In America, G.K. Chesterton). Every American should read the first three chapters of Chesterton's musings about our country. Those first three chapters are spectacular. It is almost inhuman, the number of profound things crammed in those few pages. The book is only mediocre from thenceforth, but those first three chapters are unbelievably good.
Perhaps the most timely words in that short space are the ones I have paraphrased above. G.K. saw the unbridled growth we were experiencing, and felt a little sorry for us. He knew that if a thing only grows, it soon collapses and dies. Here we are, closing in on a hundred years later, and we still haven't learned that lesson.
Can you name one physical thing that you would want to constantly expand? Why then, is that the principle on which we have based our economy? Why then, are we surprised when we can no longer sustain growth?
#2 Idolatry is the most broken of the 10 commandments (Smoke On The Mountain, Joy Davidman). Davidman was the American Lewis. I guess it's only fitting that she married him. Her chapter on gods made with hands is perhaps the best I have read on the subject.
First, she tells us of the crucial distinction between idol maker, and idol worshiper. An idol maker is, more or less, trying to express some facet of the creator that language has failed to enable him to do. It can be an almost noble thing. The idol worshiper, on the other hand, is constantly trying to have control over some facet of God.
Davidman cuts to the point and describes the common and dangerous idols that most Christians seem to have the knack for worshiping. The two that I see all the time are the Bible, and the Church.
#1 Moses will kick your ass (Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan). Lewis said that Progress was worth reading if you could stomach all of the Calvinist rhetoric. As someone who is especially sensitive to Calvin, I have to say that I hardly noticed his influences in this book. That may be because of how enamored I was with one particular exchange.
A man comes out of nowhere and beats the protagonists of the story nearly to death. He offers no mercy, and he offers no forgiveness. This, dear friends, is Moses (or at least, the Law, however you want to look at it). That is one of the best allegories ever. Moses is finally called off by Christ, and the protagonists get the mercy they had begged for. It leaves them a little bewildered and dumbstruck, but grateful. Is there a better way to describe the Christian experience?
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