On Simplicity…

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I was introduced to C. S. Lewis the usual way – through Narnia. It was only later that I discovered he had written several books on various subjects ranging from theology and apologetics to poetry and science fiction. This little book C. S. Lewis – Readings for Meditation and Reflection is an excellent introduction to his theological and apologetical work, with short excerpts drawn from his various books.

Lewis’ unique style of profound simplicity provides honest answers to searching questions. I love his no-nonsense attitude of saying it as it is. There’s no flummery or pseudo-philosophical twaddle. He cuts straight through all the platitudes to the heart of the matter and strikes home!

Lewis expounds “…the simplicity that is in Christ.”* Reading his work has made me sit up and think about… well, about what I think! More often than not, I’ve found myself complicating my life through my attitudes and my thought process; but the truth has been so simple all along! It’s liberating!

This slim volume has been an eye-opener in many ways. Earlier, while attempting to read his complete works, I felt that a page or two each day was the most my brain could take to completely appreciate his writing. This book however, is perfect in that sense, as the excerpts are about a couple pages long at the most! But it has also revealed a whole new Lewis – the variety and array of subjects and ideas that he has written about, makes me want to read more. It’s like a foretaste of the real thing. I think I will appreciate his complete works better this time around!

Though most of his work was written in the first half of the 20th century, it still holds true today. Given below are some gems from his treasury of wisdom! I couldn’t resist!

“Pride is essentially competitive…It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest…Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.”
-         Mere Christianity

“The man can neither make nor retain one moment of time; it all comes to him by pure gift; he might as well regard the sun and moon as his chattels.”
-         The Screwtape Letters

“God…is not proud, He stoops to conquer, He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him and come to Him now because there is ‘nothing better’ to be had.”
-         The Problem of Pain

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
-         Fern-seed and Elephants

“If you simply try to tell the truth (without caring tuppence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”
-         Mere Christianity

“When we want to be something other than the thing God wants us to be, we must be wanting what, in fact, will not make us happy…Whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want. Once more, we are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment, by too much love, not too little.”
- The Problem of Pain

Highly recommend this book!

* II Corinthians 11:3

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