tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29874277.post1728122097392439808..comments2023-06-27T06:13:15.376-04:00Comments on Jack's Winning Words: Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04054697504587480683noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29874277.post-21023648036270332472013-06-27T09:24:32.993-04:002013-06-27T09:24:32.993-04:00And this is one point that helps us understand the...And this is one point that helps us understand the statement that the "road is narrow", and that "wisdom cannot be had for a song". So, how and when did the notion occur that "easy" was a part of this? The body and the spirit are at odds. This isn't easy. In fact, it's the point of today's message: Life in the world is tormenting. The world is full of death and loss (pain and suffering) because it is dead (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?) without the spirit. Hence, the spirit is life. When the spirit leaves the body, it's just dirt. So, we have faith, and in the end, we live what we do belief -- regardless of how "uneasy". Lewis had a way of bringing theology and its practice to the everyday experience. Religious organizations still seems to keep it lofty and out-of-reach. Some religious leadership even seem to prefer it that way. In my understanding Luther thought it needed to be different -- a suffering and torment for him indeed, and one that was not easy to endure.Ray Gagenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29874277.post-45698717358685040972013-06-27T06:39:01.833-04:002013-06-27T06:39:01.833-04:00True enough! C.S. Lewis wrote of it too in Shadowl...True enough! C.S. Lewis wrote of it too in Shadowlands. Referring to his own experience of loss (the death of his mother) as a child, he said that he then chose "safety". (He seemed to find his safety in academics and theology -- something that wouldn't leave him, and God that can't die.) For many, safety from such pain is to avoid making intimate connections with most anything or anyone (that would eventually experience death). As you know, he later fell in love with a woman who had cancer, and married her amidst the torment of its destructive nature. This certainly isn't the manner of one who seeks safety from the suffering of loss. Quite to the contrary, he accepted both cutting edges of the sword in this circumstance. There was no avoiding it. Lewis notes the difference he learned through this experience of engaging in the intimacies of Life, noting, "...the boy chooses safety; while the man chooses suffering". Our season on earth is like a crucible that turns our hair grey, wrinkles our skin, pains our joints, and slows us down to a virtual crawl. But every grey hair, wrinkle, and pain was well-earned; like a medal or badge that proclaims that you have been tested and matured in the fire, and the gold has become more pure as a result. BTW: another great line of Lewis, " I don't pray because it changes God. I pray because it changes me."Ray Gagenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29874277.post-20097302779544362972013-06-27T06:12:17.997-04:002013-06-27T06:12:17.997-04:00Thought-provoking WW. I don't believe I would...Thought-provoking WW. I don't believe I would like to be real and not be a Christian.<br />S.H. in MIAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com