Skip to main content

C.S Lewis: To be united with the beauty we see...

A story that stirs and inspires
Discovering words that speak profound truths that you struggle to structure and articulate = revelation and relief,

CS Lewis - Widely read and quoted.
Someone who I was intimidated to read.
Simply because I felt it was beyond my depth
A fear my intellect would not be able to comprehend
Silly, I know... but true.

A quote by CS Lewis was written out and posted by a singer I admire, from his work called
 ' The Weight of Glory'

A stirring.
Interest peaked
A longing to grow in understanding
To be challenged.

I began to read.
And re-read
The same 10 pages 5 times.
I wanted to absorb what he was saying.
To be able to reiterate it so clearly when opportunity to share came along
It was like he understood me
The way in which my mind tried to make sense of things.

"We usually notice it just as the moment of vision dies away, as the music ends, or as the landscape loses the celestial light. What we feel then has been well described by Keats as the 'Journey homeward to habitual self.'

'You know what I mean. For a few minutes we have had the illusion of belonging to that world.
Now we wake to find it is no such thing.We have been mere spectators. Beauty has smiled, but not to welcome us; her face was turned in our direction, but not to see us. We have not been accepted, welcomed or taken into the dance. We may go when we please, we may stay if we can:"Nobody marks us." A scientist may reply that since most of the things we call beautiful are inanimate, it is not very surprising that they take no notice of us. That, of course, is true.It is not the physical objects that I am speaking of, but that indescribable something of which they become for a moment the messengers.
And part of the bitterness that mixes with the sweetness of that message is due to the fact that it so seldom seems to be a message intended for us, but rather something we have overheard. By bitterness I mean pain, not resentment. We should hardly dare to ask that any notice be taken of ourselves.

But we pine. The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some chasm that yawns between us and reality, is part of our inconsolable secret. And surely from this point of view, the promise of glory, in the sense described, becomes highly relevant to our deep desire.

...We do not merely want to see beauty though, God knows, even that bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words-to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bath in it, to become part of it...

...That is why the poets tell us such lovely falsehoods. They talk as if the west wind could really sweep into a human soul; but it can't. They tell us that "beauty born of murmuring sound" will pass into the human face; but t won;t.
Or not yet.
We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. 
Some day, God willing, we shall get in."






Photos from  Unsplash


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Conditions

Conditions. Favorable or unfavorable. These factors become the difference between confidence and the feeling of being out of control. Well acquainted with its quirks and the way it drives, my car and I have driven many miles. Sunshine, warm days and open roads. Driving is both liberating and enjoyable and not merely just a means to an end. Snow, ice, wind and darkness. Driving is stressful, at moments terrifying. And the car that once felt very familiar now feels unfamiliar. Weightlessness upon a surface that was once clear, its boundaries no longer visible. Once familiar, now obscured.  Sunlight that once gave foresight, is replaced by headlights that give fragments of visibility as you move forward in the descending darkness. You know your destination. But the journey towards home is difficult, uncertain, long and slow. You cannot guarantee that you will arrive without incident. You only know, that you have to take deep controlled breath, after d...

Tea & Life

Tea. A delicious warm drink. Also known in England as a Cuppa.... How I enjoy drinking tea. Truth be told, the frequency of which I partake in this rather common and daily habit for some, is quite diminished as of late. I asked myself why this was, as I was soaking up the moonlit sky, on my rather brisk walk this evening. Tea.  Warm, comforting and even more delicious accompanied by scones, clotted cream & jam.... just saying. Of an evening with my Aunt, watching various British period programs,we have been known to consume at least 3 very, very, large pots of tea. My ability to drink tea is rather astonishing. Yet the kettle seldom used and the tea gone more untouched as of late. Why?                                                                               ...

Changing Leaves

"I keep turning over new leaves, and spoiling them, as I used to spoil my copybooks; and I make so many beginnings there never will be an end."   ~Jo March,  Louisa May Alcott, Little Women. A few years ago, I upgraded to a new-to-me, used iPhone.  The camera was better, the storage slightly larger for my obsessive hobby of taking photos of things that caught my eye during walks.  (Let me be honest, it happened far too often, but then again, it's who I am!) My friend's husband jokingly asked if it came with a photo album of leaves, or something along those lines. To his credit, it was a witty and hilarious joke that reflected a reality and truth, that all who were present knew very well... Sheena sure loved to post photos of leaves. I can't help it, my breath catches and I want to document the moment, the transition and to share it with others.  The difference between today and tomorrow is everything in this season.  So, I don't want to miss this moment, th...