Integrative Paper

Josh Choi

C.S. Lewis DCM           

“Passion is like a garden,” said C.S. Lewis “when it is left to nature it won’t be a garden anymore.” Though it is full of life and beauty, it cannot weed itself or fence itself. A man must constantly keep watch over it in order to keep it beautiful. Lewis was talking about passion in the romantic love, Eros, in the original context, but I believe this can apply for all sorts of passions in our lives, including passion for God. This passion must be nurtured and trained carefully in order to be properly used for the Kingdom of Heaven. Developing a Christian mind is crucial for a Christian to effectively live out their lives for the truth, I believe this past DCM interim has helped me immensely to develop a Christian perspective in the midst of this distorted world. I’ve learned very powerful and logical ways to defend and introduce our faith to others. Not only that, I also learned the tremendous importance of humility and what it truly means to seek after God.

             Being able to defend our faith is a crucial part of being a follower of Christ. I Peter 3:15b says:

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

The most important thing in starting an argument is to find a common ground. C.S. Lewis says that the reality of the universal moral law is something that everybody must agree on. The postmodern idea of subjective morality cannot hold, because that idea of new morality can only derive from the preexisting traditional morality. From there, we could argue that someone must have put that law there since we know it’s not humans who have come up with it. Progressing our ideas this way, we can present God and Christianity in an understandable, logical way, although we do have to keep in mind that it is faith, not a convincing argument, that enables humans to believe in God.

             It is also important, when we are defending our faith, to bring up the fact that science is simply not the right tool to find out the existence of God, because this is one of the areas where Christianity gets attacked the most. We cannot scientifically prove the existence of God, but maybe that is because science is not the right tool for us to find God. It is the job of a scientist to find out causes and effects in nature, but it is not their job to figure out if there is anything behind science itself. Also, not everything needs to be provable in order for it to be true. Certain events in history cannot be proven, but we all accept it as true.

             Plantinga and Lewis both mention that we all have a certain unexplainable longing. We often mistake that these longings are for the material things in this world, but that is not so. Many will come to realize that the things that we enjoy in this world is only a glimpse of what we are truly longing for, and this may be a hint that we are actually meant for a place beyond this world that we know. Bringing up these points can lead us to introduce the gospel in a more understandable fashion.

Humility is an absolute necessity to understand God and our world. In Meditation in a Toolshed C.S. Lewis talked about the difference between looking at and looking along the beam of light. Depending on the point of view, the way each of us view certain things in this world can be very different. C.S. Lewis gives an example that a psychologist’s perspective on two people who are in love will be very different from the lover’s perspective. We cannot know for sure which of them has a more accurate view. We have to be humble and remind ourselves that what we perceive can be different from others and that it might not be the most accurate point of view. There is so much to learn if we are willing to listen to others.

             Pride, which is the opposite of humility, is said to be the greatest of all sins. This is because pride was at the core of the first sin that has been committed by Lucifer, who believed he could be just as good as God. Pride is very unique compared to other sins, because it is not attached to any of our animal behavior. Other sins, such as sexual immorality or greed, derive from Satan distorting our animal behavior, but Pride is different. It is purely spiritual, and it makes us lose our capacity to see and know God. C.S. Lewis explains what happens:

“A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

We will not be able to see God if we are proud. We need to walk humbly before our Lord. The first step of overcoming pride is by admitting and realizing the fact that we are proud. This may seem like a simple task, but it will prove to be very difficult. But from here, we may be able to ask for God’s help to open our eyes and enable us to see ourselves as we really are and see Him as He truly is. Humility is essential in understanding God and our world.

             Jesus once said, “Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find.” I used to think this was simply a very encouraging verse saying that God, in his abundance, will not hold back his blessings if we only ask Him. Although that is partially true, through this DCM course I’ve gotten a new insight on what it means to truly seek. When Jesus asked us to seek, he didn't mean it as slow, mediocre searching, he wanted us to give everything for this search for truth. Lukewarm, mediocre behavior won’t do. In Revelation He says that because we are lukewarm, He is going to spit us out of his mouth. It makes God sick when we are lukewarm about our faith. Through the Screwtape Letters Lewis tells us that the ongoing lukewarm behavior will slowly drag us away from God, and before we realize it, we might find ourselves tied down by the devil. Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl that is hidden in a field, and when a man finds out about it, he sells everything he has to buy that land. That is the kind of passion that Jesus wants from us.

             Another very important question is: What are we looking for? According to C.S. Lewis, what we are aiming for can make the biggest difference even if everyone is engaged in the same outward activities. He said:

“Play to win and you will find yourself taking violent exercise; play because it is good for you and you will not.”

The same idea applies in our learning. We can miss out on so much if we only study to get good grades, but if we work hard and study in order to learn and acquire knowledge, there is so much we can get. Plantinga tells us that our current vocation is to learn and equip ourselves with knowledge not to earn good grades. Our report cards will not help us when we are challenged to share and defend our faith. Our grades won’t mean anything when we are out in the mission field. But the little skills that we have picked up along the way can be used to further God’s Kingdom. God will not let our efforts go to waste. What we aim for can change drastically our potential in being used for God’s Kingdom.

             When we seek something, it means that our eyes are opened and we are aware of our surroundings. I believe that when we are told to seek, it also means to be awake and conscious of reality. We are to be conscious with the fact that we are truly at war, and this is not something that we just read from the books or hear from sermons; it’s reality. One of the biggest way the devil attacks us is by making us forget about his existence. That is why we have to awake and alert at all times. Church going can be a deadly weapon against us if we are not awake and conscious of why we do what we do. If church going just simply becomes a pattern in our lives, we will start fooling ourselves that our action of going to church is what assures that we have a relationship with God. One of the most challenging quotes that I found during this course was in Weight of Glory. Here, C.S. Lewis says:

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. …it is with immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit…your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”

I can only imagine how different our churches and communities would be if we were just conscious of this reality. When we are challenged to seek, we are meant to truly open our eyes and be aware of what is going on. There are powerful truths and realities that are waiting to be remembered and discovered!

             The DCM interim course has truly helped me develop a Christian mind. I have acquired knowledge that could help me defend and share my faith more clearly and effectively, I learned the incredible importance of being humble in everything we do, whether encountering another person or even myself in light of God, and I have been challenged immensely to be awake and alert. My hope and prayer is that I will not forget what I have learned during this past month and that I can effectively live out what I been challenged with. This world and everything in it is the Lords, and I want to be truly passionate about bringing God’s kingdom here in our community.

References

C.S. Lewis. Mere Christianity (1944)

 Weight of Glory (1941)

 Our English Syllabus

God in the Dock (1970)

The Screwtape Letters (1942)

Plantinga, Cornelius. Engaging God’s World. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing

             Company, 2002.

human pain

           C.S. Lewis is someone who has definitely gone through painful times. He has lost comrades during war, and he also lost his mother and wife. Having gone through these times, it seems that he has discovered some very important things about pain. Lewis, in the chapter Human Pain, talks about the reason for pain. He says pain is actually necessary for humans to know God. Pain is basically a wakeup call that our world is not perfect and we are not meant to settle for the things of this world. Through pain God can speak to us and enable us to realize how dependant we are to Him. Lewis says:

“God whispers to us in our pleasure, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Lewis also brings on a very good point when he says:

“Prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God: the proud, the avaricious, the self-righteous, are in that danger.”

This relates directly to what Platinga said about how the gospel is good news to those people whose lives are bad news. Through pain we become vulnerable and helpless that God can show Himself in our lives.

So what does this mean to us? When we face painful times, we know that our character is being built through it somehow and we can rejoice in the hard times. We know that there is nothing wrong with us or God when we face trials, it is very normal and very necessary. But most importantly, instead of being so focused about the problem when face trials, we need to have our eyes and ears opened and listen for what God might be wanting to teach us at that time. God doesn’t waste pain, He each of them for a purpose, and when we face tough times we need to be able to pay attention to God and what He might be wanting to tell us.

I was very shocked when I read about what C.S. Lewis calls the Divine Humility; that God will still take us in even if we use him as our last resort. C.S. Lewis quotes a very shocking and convicting quote from a friend:

“We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it’s there for emergencies but he hopes he’ll never have to use it.”

It is frightening how true that is for so many of us. I know I am guilty of that many times. However, what’s more shocking is that God will still take us in even if we go to Him as our last resort.

Chapter 5

           In the beginning of this chapter we are asked with one of the most commonly asked questions yet one of the most challenging ones: “Do contemporary Christians bring the same passion to their hope of redemption as people in the Bible did?”

           Jesus once challenged his disciples that the Kingdom of God is like a pearl hidden in a field, and when someone found out about it, he sold everything to obtain that field. That is was our passion for the Kingdom of Heaven is suppose to look like! Are we willing to give up everything for the sake of the call? There is no middle ground. In Revelation Jesus tells us that those who are lukewarm makes him want to throw up! Our call is to be on fire for God.

           Plantinga said, “God’s Kingdom has always sounded like good news for people whose lives are bad news.” I find this so incredibly true. That is why Jesus said that it is so difficult for a rich man to enter his kingdom, because they already have everything they need; well, except the most important one.

           I think it is safe for me to assume that no one really views himself as a rich man. Because there are so many people who are richer than us, we don’t see ourselves as rich. But in reality, we really are rich. If we compare ourselves with the number people who are poorer than us, we are so rich! We have everything we need. We always have food at our table, water, a place to sleep… These are all such blessings, but our stable, secure situation can be a handicap for us to be dependent on God and be excited about his Kingdom. Plantinga says:

“When our earthly kingdom have had a good year, we don’t necessarily long for the kingdom of God to break in. We like our own setup just fine.”

I guess what this means for us is that we have to challenge ourselves and get ourselves into situations where we really have to depend on God. I don’t know how exactly this would look like, but I think it will be different for each person. We have to step out of our comfort zone, and I’m sure each of us, with our own personal fears and discomforts, know what that means. We have to step out and see how bad this world really needs God’s kingdom.

Man or Rabbit

During the small group discussion time, I remember our group laughing about the fact that if we were a non-Christian and we read this essay, we would have just gotten really scared. C.S. Lewis talks provocatively about the question “Can’t you lead a good life without believing in Christianity?” Lewis says that those who ask such questions are cowards and they are lazy. Lewis says:

          

“He is deliberately trying not to know whether Christianity is true or false, because he foresees endless trouble if it should turn out to be true.”

Lewis says that “honest rejection of Christ” might be forgivable, but looking the other way and pretending you haven’t noticed the Son of Man might be a different matter. Lewis describes these people as ostriches hiding their face in the sand.

People who asks this question, in fact, doesn’t even know what it means to live a “good” life neither do they understand what life is all about. It is impossible to be good with our own effort. I find it interesting that Lewis never really tells us what life is all about. I guess that wasn’t the point of this particular essay.

I am not a non-Christian, so I am not part of the group of people that Lewis is particularly addressing to. However I find this essay very insightful and useful in that I can understand what the people who ask the question of “being good with being a Christian” are really thinking. It seems that Lewis, who have been in the position of the people whom he is criticizing, has a good idea what is going on in these people’s minds. Knowing where these people are at when they ask this question can be very useful in helping these people know Christ, although I would probably use a less provocative language.  

Inner Ring

Clique is a good modern word for what C.S. Lewis describes as the inner-ring. Lewis describes how everybody desires to be in the inner ring, but by doing so one may be in danger of becoming a bad person. Lewis says,

“Of all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.”

I guess we can call it peer pressure. Lewis says that being in group can make people do thing that they normally won’t when they are by themselves. Often times this can lead to having good people do bad things because of the inner-ring. We know this is true because, as we’ve mentioned in class, we often see very friendly individuals who become no so friendly when they are with their group of friends.

Another negative outcome that could come out of desiring to be in an inner-ring is that you will not find what you want in the inner-ring if being in the inner-ring is all you are looking for. Lewis describes what happens:

“. The circle cannot have from within the charm it had from outside. By the very act of admitting you it has lost its magic.”

Lewis also brings to mind that once you are in the inner-ring, you would want to be as exclusive to others outside the inner-ring as possible. “Exclusion is no accident; it is the essence.” After all, exclusion is what makes inner-rings exist.

However, inner-rings aren’t always bad. When inner-rings form because of common interests or genuine like of the individuals in it, we call that friendship. Lewis says that in friendships, exclusion is only a by-product. In class it was brought up that exclusion in this sense is not exactly bad. When a group forms from common interests that the individuals within the group have, those who don’t have that common interest will naturally feel awkward when they find themselves in that group.

A good, God-centered friendship can actually have a very positive impact. It can keep people accountable. The Bible describes this as “iron sharpens iron”. A positive group of friends can be a positive impact on not only to the people within the group but also to others by spreading a positive spirit.

Show and Tell

“So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.”

                                                                -I Thessalonians 5:6

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

                                                                -Ephesians 6:18

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

                                                                -I Peter 5:8

           Through reading all these different writings by C.S. Lewis, the biggest challenge that I’ve been getting is the question of are we awake? Are we alert? Are we thinking? Are we conscious? The Screwtape Letter that we read talks about how even church going can become a deadly weapon that the devil can use against us if we are not conscious what we are doing and why we are doing it. We have to be aware of the fact that we really are getting attacked all the time, and if we are not conscious and alert about it, we will get swept away.

 It the last paragraph of The Weight of Glory Lewis talks about the people around us. No one that we have ever come across in our lives is a mortal. “There are no ordinary people!” The people around, especially Christians, are the holiest objects that God has placed in our lives bearing the imaging of God and embodying Christ in their hearts. Do we really believe that? Are we constantly aware of that when we meet people each day?

the Four Loves

         In this chapter C.S. Lewis talks about Eros, the sexual love. The thing that stuck out to me the most was when C.S. Lewis describes passion. He says that Eros, or the passionate love, is more like the dive before the actual swim. Eros, although it promises permanence, is not what keeps love lasting. Once it has started, it will take discipline and commitment to keep it alive and make progress. Again, Lewis describes passion as a kind of garden. A garden is full of life and beauty, and it can give that life to others who are around. But the garden cannot weed itself or fence itself on its own. It needs to taken care of. A garden when it is simply left to nature won’t be a garden anymore. God has place man to attend and keep watch over the garden.

         Although Lewis was probably thinking about passion as Eros when he explained it this way, I think this way of thinking about passion can apply to our passion for God as well. There are times where we get our passion for God fired up, whether through a retreat or a sermon, and we are excited about living our life for God again. But when that passion slowly fades away after some time, we don’t know what to do. We sometimes even think that there’s something wrong with us because we’re not feeling that fiery passion that we once had. In reality that fiery moment was meant to just get our walk started, just as a dive is what gets our swimming started. We cannot always want that feeling in order to be close to God, just like we can’t swim back to shore over and over just to dive again. If that happens, we make no progress.

         Another place where I’ve seen this aspect of passion was out in the mission field. As a MK, I lived in Uganda and Kenya 16 years, and I had the opportunity to meet many missionaries. I there’s one thing I’ve learned about missions is that mission is a life style. A lot times people back in our home country expect missionaries to be people who are constantly on fire for God, but in reality, missionaries are people who are just living out their lives, in a sense, like anyone else. The fiery passion filled moment is what gets them started and enables them to stand up and volunteer to go to foreign lands. But when they get there, it’ll be their faithful persistence and discipline that will enable them to stay in that land for the years to come. We cannot expect our fiery passion to always be there to fuel us. Once we get it started, it’ll take discipline, perseverance and persistence along with the grace of God that will enable us to finish the good race.

Learning in Wartime

In this reading, C.S Lewis talks about the importance of learning and going about our daily occupations during wartime. He says that war is not a new situation, it always has been there but not always noticed. He goes on talking about how if we wait for the best environment and the setting for learning, we will end up waiting for something that will never come. “Life has never been normal.” Insects have chosen seek material security before anything else, but humans have chosen a different path. Humans have chosen to seek beauty despite the lack of material security. Lewis goes on about how we shouldn’t be so obsessed with the fact that we are at war.

         I found it very interesting when Lewis mentioned his own experience at war. He said that as they went closer and closer to the frontline, people talked less and less about the war. He’s trying to say that the human life will always go on despite what situation we are in. Those who have been born again will notice that nothing they do has really changed, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The important thing the new spirit we have in us that effects how we look at things.

         Lewis says, “The rescue of drowning men is, then a duty worth dying for, but not worth living for.” And he goes on to say, “A man may have to die for our country: but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country.” I thought this was a very good way of putting things into perspective.

         That quote also made me think who we are as Christians. We often think of the martyrs of the past as great heroes of our faith, and they truly are. But I’m starting to think how much harder it is to live for Jesus than to die for Jesus. It takes a great leap of impulsive faith to say that I believe in Jesus in front of someone pointing a gun at me, and once that person pulls the trigger, it’s all over. But living for Jesus is a different matter, a lot more difficult matter. It’s patience and persistence every day. Every day we have to die ourselves and let go of all our worldly desires. It takes a lot of discipline and struggles to live for Jesus, and that will never end until we die.

         Are we up for the challenge?

Chapter 3

 The third chapter of the book by Plantinga talks about the fall of man and how that has affected everything in this world. Corruption has spread throughout creation. There aren’t exactly evil people, but there is evil in everyone’s hearts. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said,

“If only there were evil people somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

During class there was the whole discussion about the origin of evil. I don’t think I have a clear answer to that question, but I think that evil is anything that is not of God. It is true that God created everything, so does that mean that God created as evil as well?

I don’t think so. As I said, I believe evil something that is not of God, so God didn’t create evil. But it exists not because God created it, but because He is a God of love. Love is a choice. He didn’t want us, or I guess even the angels, to not have a choice but to be with Him. He allowed something opposite from him to exist, namely evil, so that we can have a choice. How could we really love God if we didn’t have a choice?

Sadly, human beings chose sin and evil in the beginning of history. Because of that, the world became corrupt. However, our story doesn’t end there. As a matter of fact, there could something so beautiful and magnificent that can happen despite of fall, or even because of the Fall.

In Luke 7:40-50, Jesus tells a Pharisee that those who are forgiven much will love much, but those who are forgiven little will love little.

We became filthy because of the Fall, but God demonstrates his love by coming down to us despite our filth. We can see the greatness of God’s grace through our failures. I wonder if we would have ever understood that our God is a God of grace if we never sinned. The evil in this world is most definitely painful, but God can even use that to create something so incredible and beautiful.

The Poison of Subjectivism

In The Poison of Subjectivism C.S. Lewis attacks the postmodern idea that the moral law can be subject depending on the person and the culture. Lewis says,

        

“Out of this apparently innocent idea comes the disease that will certainly end our species if it is not crushed; the fatal superstition that men can create values, that community can choose its “ideology” as men choose their clothes.”

In a way, Lewis is furthering his argument about the moral law that he starts in Mere Christianity and the Abolition of Man. During the class one of the students made a comment that in this particular reading, it seems that Lewis has grown a bit more impatient. I have to agree on that comment as look at how Lewis progresses his ideas in this reading.

Lewis says, “This whole attempt to jettison traditional values as something subjective and to substitute a new scheme of value for them is wrong. It is like trying to lift yourself by your own coat collar.” Lewis says that it is impossible start coming up with new values without putting the traditional moral values first. In fact, he says, “the human mind has no more power of inventing a new value than of planting a new sun in the sky…” Lewis goes on to explain that any attempt to come up with a new value would only be an isolated and blown-out-of-proportion version of the traditional morality.

“The trunk to whose root the reformer would lay the axe is the only support of the particular branch he wishes to retain.”

If the standard of good is subjective, then how do we measure goodness? How do even know if we are making progress? Lewis says,

“If good is a fixed point, it is at least possible that we should get nearer and nearer to it; but if the terminus is as mobile as the train, how can the train progress towards it?”

I’m still trying to see what kind of applications I can take away from this reading by Lewis. I definitely know that what he is saying is crucial in defending my faith. The fact that there is a definite moral seen throughout all of humanity is the starting point of which Lewis starts his argument in Mere Christianity. So it is extremely important that we are able to clearly define and defend the fact that moral subjectivism is false.

Mere Christianity

           In Mere Christianity Lewis explains Christianity using rationality and reasoning. He starts off with a common ground where everybody, or mostly everybody, could agree on; which is the fact that everyone is under a certain moral law. This basic moral law is the common throughout any culture and any point in time. Lewis explains that this moral law different is different any other kind of law that human beings are under. We under the law of gravity, and we have no choice but to obey it. However, we can choose whether or not we will obey the moral law. As a matter of fact, despite the moral law, every human has broken that law. Lewis goes one and talks about how there must be someone behind this moral law, but he doesn’t talk about how that could be the God of Christianity. He simply leaves that hanging at this point.

           I really like the way Lewis explains what it means when someone is a ‘Christian’. Just as the word ‘gentleman’ simply used to be a fact not a quality, the word ‘Christian’ should be a labeling for people who believes in the Christian doctrine. It shouldn’t be a quality judging whether or not a person follows their beliefs well or not. Lew is says,

“When a man who accepts the Christian doctrine lives unworthily of it, it s much clearer to say he is a bad Christian than to say he is not a Christian.”

Although this concept is not something that we can moral lessons from, I think it is a good way to clearly explain and a categorize people.

           I really like how Lewis explains that science is the wrong tool in trying to discover whether or not there is a God. This is one of biggest ways Christianity is being attacked today. People say that God can’t be real, because He can’t be scientifically proven. Lewis says that science is the study of finding causes and effects. However, Lewis explains,

“But why anything comes to be there at all, and whether there is anything behind the things science observes—something of a different kind – this is not a scientific question.”

I really appreciate the fact that Lewis brought this up to explain that science is the wrong tool for proving the existence of God. I guess it’s somewhat similar to the fact that many things in history, such as historical figures, cannot be proven by science. But just because they can’t be proven by science doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s false.

Lukewarm behavior

         In this letter, written in the perspective of Screwtape, Lewis describes how the devil tries to take us down by a slow process of getting dull and lukewarm. It really hit me when I read that churchgoing can be extremely dangerous if just simply becomes an external habit. Because we go to church and have Christian friends, we can possibly trick ourselves that we are on the right track, where in reality, we are not growing at all.

This way of becoming dull to Christian life can be especially dangerous to MK’s, such as myself. As we travel around the globe, going to church on Sundays can simply become a tradition, something that we do because we have always done it. It is very easy to lose track of why we are doing what we do. I often find myself viewing church as something I just have to go through and get over it so that I do other things I’d like to do on that Sunday. It crucial to be aware of the fact that the devil is using this to slowly drag us away from God, so that we can stand firm on what we believe and fight against the dullness that is attacking us.

According to the Screwtape Letter, this dim uneasiness that comes from dullness in our spiritual walk will increase our reluctance to think about God. I find that to be so true when I am not doing good in my walk in faith. I feel reluctant to think about God, because I know I’m going to have to face the guilt of failures. It is actually the presence of God that scares me in these times. The devil uses this uneasiness to drag us further away from God until we want other things to distract us so that we won’t have to think about God.

Once again, it is crucial to be aware that this is how the devil attacks us. Often times it not the sins that we consider the really big bad ones that drag us away from God, it could be something as simple as boredom that slowly gets us. Instead of just assuming that we are right with God, the Bible tells us to constantly test our faith to see if it’s true and real. It also says that God will be faithful and true we confess our sins, so we don’t have to be caught up in our guilt when we approach God.
 

Chapter 2

The second chapter of Engaging God’s World talks about Creation what that means to us. I thought it very interesting how Plantinga describes creation as neither an accident nor a necessity but and act fitting to God’s characteristics. God’s very nature is to be in a relationship, as he shares the perfect relationship within himself in the trinity. Reading this, I was reminded of the passage in the Bible that says “God is love.” I can see clearer now how this verse makes sense. God is love, because his entire being is in a perfect love relationship.

I think it’s a great observation that humans are the most dependent in all of creation. The planets don’t cease to exist if humans cease to exist. The humans can’t live without animals, but animals won’t die out without humans. As a matter of fact, they will probably flourish more without humans. Knowing this, we can see the world in a more humble perspective, that we are not as superior and in control as we think we are. But more importantly, knowing that we are naturally more dependant beings should lead us to become more supportive of each other. The fact that there are so many possible things that can happen to us that we can’t do anything about should help us turn to God more than ever before. The existence of these planets that we are so dependent on is something that is totally beyond our scale of control. We cannot control our lives. God is the one who can.

This leads to one of Plantinga’s point that the nature is the stage for God not ours. We often make the mistake of thinking that we are the main characters in this stage called Nature, but in reality, God is the one that nature points to. This world is meant for God to be magnified through everything in it.

Although this may not have a whole lot to do with the main flow of ideas in this chapter, this quote in the reading by Henri Nouwen stuck out to me. He said,

“When we have met our Lord in the silent intimacy of our prayer, then we will also meet him… in the market, and in the town square. But when we have not met him in the center of our own hearts, we cannot expect to meet him in the busyness of our daily lives.”

It is interesting that so many people think the opposite way. They think that we can talk to God anywhere, as we walk, work, and live our daily lives. Although this can be true, the key thing is often forgotten, and that is to have Christ truly at the center of our hearts. It is so crucial to have a designated quite time alone with God to be able to communicate with him throughout the day. When Jesus talked about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, he never talked about communicating within the business and the chaos of life, but he talks about finding a designated place away from people in order to pray to God. This key aspect of pray is often overlooked by Christians.

        

Weight of Glory

 In the beginning of the sermon Lewis talks about desires and rewards. As I read this passage about mercenaries and people who are after proper rewards, I realized that although Christians are not initially mercenaries for desire heaven as a reward from our relationship with God, we are constantly in the danger of becoming mercenaries. We tend to think at times that we deserve something from God. We expect God’s blessings to come in a form that we want it to be; may it prosperity, material goods, success, and the list goes on. Lewis says “the proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation.” When we look for material success from God and think that we deserve it we become mercenaries. It is amazing how often we fall into this trap of becoming mercenaries in our relationship with God, and this is mainly because we cannot experience our reward of being in heaven in this life.

Lewis makes a challenging point that we often fall in the trap of settling for the things in this world as what we truly desire. He says,

“These things – the beauty, the memory of our own past – are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols”

There are countless times when I get so obsessed by things I consider “beautiful” (may it be music, technology, or even time spending with friends) that I get distracted from God. We must always keep in mind that the beautiful things in this life are only pointing to the greater beauty that is beyond this life, and we shouldn’t get caught up in this world.

“Nature is only the image, the symbol; but it is the symbol Scripture invites me to use. We are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendor which she fitfully reflects.”

There are many insightful things that I got out of this sermon, but what hit me the most was Lewis’ insight in the last paragraph. He says,

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. … it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit.”

I don’t this world will ever be the same if we as Christians live out our lives and treat others with that perspective in mind.

Our English Syllabus

          In this reading Lewis talks about the difference between education and learning. Education is the general learning for a person to become a good man, and learning is what is required for a person to become skilled at a specific task.

         The main theme that goes throughout the reading is Lewis’ emphasis on us as individuals desiring knowledge and going after it with our own will. He talks about how the learning we get from the professors are so limited and they can even prevent us from acquiring something new. He says, “It is time you learned to wrestle with nature for yourself… our selection would be an effort to bind the future within our present knowledge and taste.”

         This reading challenged me as Lewis puts so much emphasis on our attitude as we approach learning and the reason behind our studies. He says:

“Play to win and you will find yourself taking violent exercise; play because it is good for you and you will not. In the same way, though you may have come here only to be educated, you will never receive that precise educational gift which a university has to give you unless you can at least pretend, so long as you are with us, that you are concerned not with education but with knowledge for its own sake.”

This quote reminded me of what prof. Paulo said about grades in this class. He said he

didn’t want us to be so focused about our grades, because we can gain so much more than grades if we are willing to really learn.

         The importance of what we are truly looking does not only apply with education and learning. As I reading this passage, I was reminded of what Lewis said about finding our identity and our relationship with Jesus in Mere Christianity. He said that if we fully follow Christ, we will be able find out who we really are. But if we follow Christ in order to find our own identity, we won’t find anything. When follow Christ for the sake of knowing Christ, that’s when we’ll find everything. He also says something similar to this as he talks about where our life’s focus should be on, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.” It seems that what we are aiming is far more important than the specific activities that we find ourselves doing.

Chp.1 of Engaging God's World

The first chapter of Engaging God’s World talks about longing and hope. As humans we all long for God, but most of the time people don’t realize that. We often think that other worldly things will satisfy us, while in reality we need God fill that longing. C.S. Lewis mentions that we are far too easily satisfied and pleased. As I read this I remembered something that Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity. He said that people always look for things to satisfy them, but no matter how hard they search, they will not find it. This could be because what we’re looking for is not in this world. This can be a proof that we were meant for something beyond this world.

         I really liked what we discussed in class about dreaming. I really like how Prof. Adriana mentioned that too much dreaming will make us miss out on the present. I find this very true as I look at my own life. It seems that I’m always looking forward to something in the future that I’m not fully living it out in the present. This can occur in something as simple as looking forward to the weekend. Because I’m looking forward to that time that I can relax during the weekend, I’m not fully giving my best in the present. It’s as if I’m simply living for the weekend and try to survive till then instead of appreciate and fully living each moment as it comes. Jesus even emphasizes on living in the present in Matthew 6:34.

         I also thought the idea of learning from one’s dream very interesting. Prof. Adriana told us the story about the boy who had nightmares about wolves, and his mom came over and told him to learn how to fight the wolves next time. I never really thought that it was possible to learn how to fight against temptations and hardships through dreams, but now that I think about, it could be very possible that God can use dreams to teach us and train us.

         One of the most powerful quotes I found in this chapter was the one by Lewis Smedes. He said, “Keep hope alive, and hope will keep you alive.” And I believe this can summarizes my current stage in my walk with the Lord. I struggle hard to keep my faith, which is my hope in the Lord, alive, and that , in return, is what keeps me going.

Have NO 'Right to Happiness'

           In this reading C.S. Lewis talks about sexual immorality and how people tend to see it as a right to pursue happiness. Lewis says that it is wrong that people think it is okay to leave one’s spouse because they are in love with another person and the love for their spouse has faded. Lewis brings in a very good point when he says:

          

“When two people achieve lasting happiness, this is not solely because they are great lovers but because they are also – I must put it crudely- good people; controlled, loyal, fair-minded, mutually adaptable people.”

            The feeling of love is not all there is to a lasting relationship. In other words, losing that loving feeling towards one’s spouse shouldn’t be a reason to leave them.

           Lewis also brings in an interesting point that if this way of living in infidelity is tolerated women will be in more of a disadvantage than men. He says the reason is because first, the women are more “naturally monogamous than men”, and secondly, Lewis puts it as, “the quality by which they most easily hold a man, their beauty, decreases every year after they have come to maturity.” When I first read this, I thought this comment was very insightful and true, however, as I heard the discussions in class concerning this issue, it seems that this is might not be the case. At any rate, because I am not a woman, I do not have a good answer to this comment. It would be appreciated if I can get some comments and feedback concerning this comment by Lewis.

           The title of this reading may be provocative to some, but I find it very true for us as Christians. The right to happiness is an idea commonly held by most people, but I believe as Christians we are here, in a sense, to deny that. I am here to follow Christ to deny what I want to do to make me happy and follow God whom I’m going to trust that will give me true meaning in life. As followers of Jesus, we’re not here for the good times and the happy times. We are here to follow Jesus and whatever that means. Jesus never said it would be easy to follow him, but Jesus did say, “my joy may be in you and so that your joy may be complete.” As Christians, I believe it our calling to give up that “right” to follow God.

Bulverism

         “Bulverism” was definitely a harder reading than the previous essay. The ideas that Lewis talks about are more abstract and harder to understand, and it took me several readings for me understand what Lewis was trying to say. However, the main application that we can get out of this reading is similar to that of “Meditation in a Toolshed.” Once again Lewis puts emphasis on the importance of humility when we encounter different ideas, and we are challenged to judge less and listen more.

         Bulverism is a word created by Lewis to describe a situation when one person invalidates the other’s ideas because of something other than the logic and the reasoning behind the other’s ideas. Ezekiel Bulver, from whom the word Bulverism comes from, noticed his mom say to his dad, “Oh, you say that because you are a man.” This is typical case where Bulverism is evident. His mom invalidates his dad’s ideas just because he’s a man.

         Bulverism is also present within our Christian world. I attended a very conservative Christian elementary school. As a result, whenever I heard anything about evolution, I regarded that idea as untrue. However, as I grew older I came to see that there are so many amazing that we can learn about our world that have to do with evolution, and evolution didn’t contradict with my faith as I thought it did.

         The Bible doesn’t tell us everything. As mentioned in class, the Bible tells us to feed the poor, but it doesn’t tell us the recipe for the food. In the same way, the Bible tells us that God created the world, but it doesn’t say how or what method He used.

         I’ve also seen Bulverism occur in the way Christians view Islam. It seems that when we encounter a Muslim, we come with the mindset that “we are right, they are wrong.” However, in my personal experience, I’ve been challenged and humbled by seeing how some Muslim live out their lives in humility and kindness. There is so much to learn once we truly start listening.

         One of the ways we can fight Bulverism is by being aware that it can occur to anyone, and we should be willing to learn. We should stop looking at the person and their social status and start looking at the argument.

Meditation in a Toolshed

           Lewis talks about the difference between looking at something and looking along something as he starts off with an illustration picturing a dark toolshed with a small streak of light coming from a crack on the door. If you’re looking at the light from the side, it’s dusty light in a dark shed, but if you’re looking through the light, you’ll be looking at the trees and the birds outside the shed. The question is: which one of the two perspectives can is seeing this sunbeam more accurately? Concerning this question, Lewis challenges us to be humble in how we view our world and what we perceive to be true.

           Lewis says that in our current world today people tend to value the view of looking at things far over the view of looking along things. Although it is true that we are often deceived when we are inside the actual experience, we cannot devalue the truths we can obtain through experience. Lewis uses pain as an example of something that we can only explain once we have experienced it. Lewis says that one cannot have a perfectly objective view of just looking at things. He says, “You can step outside one experience only by stepping inside another.”

           Lewis concludes that both way of looking at things is necessary, and not one way of looking is superior to the other. He says, “… we must start with no prejudice for or against either kind of looking.” Which view is more accurate will depend on each situation. They can be both correct in different ways, or they both can be wrong. In the end Lewis says, “We just have to find out.”

           Lewis states that we have to be humble in order to obtain more accurate truths. Once we admit and are aware of our ignorance, only then we will be able to start opening new ways of looking at things. We cannot arrogantly state that what we have is the absolute truth. We must ask ourselves how we are looking at things and if they are truly accurate. However, there is no need to be troubled by these uncertainties, because there is a definite truth that surpasses all of our reality. Just as the sun is the uttermost truth and base of both views in the toolshed, God is the one who surpasses our uttermost reality.