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The title of the book may be a double-intender. Lewis [1898-1963] married late in life. His relationship with Joy Davidman began as a friendship in 1952, before her divorce in America was completed. She - like Lewis - was a recent convert from atheism to theism to Christianity! A friend wrote: "For Jack (C. S. Lewis) the attraction was at first undoubtedly intellectual. Joy was the only woman whom he had met... who had a brain which matched his own in suppleness, in width of interest, and in analytical grasp, and above all in humor and a sense of fun."
The circumstances of their relationship are a love story of great depth, surprising decisions that were questioned by many of Lewis' friends, and remarkable twists of fate. In the end, however, Joy became the great treasure of Lewis' life! It was a romance for the ages!
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His 'awakening' took place unexpectedly while riding on the upper level of a bus! He suddenly felt himself being offered a free choice. His response: "I chose to open, to unbuckle, to loosen the reign...For the first time I examined myself with a seriously practical purpose. And there I found what appalled me; a zoo of lusts, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears, a harem of fondled hatreds. My name was legion.""
He writes: "You must picture me alone in that room..., night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet."
He goes on to explain that this initial conversion was not to Christianity, but to theism - the belief in a god. His response was logical: "I started attending my parish church on Sundays and my college chapel on weekdays...I thought one ought to 'fly one's flag' by some unmistakable overt sign."
His humor erupts on this topic: "But though I liked clergymen as I liked bears, I had as little wish to be in the Church as in the zoo." Lewis struggled with the hymns, disappointments and "time-wasting botheration of it all", but persisted.
Finally, he describes his critical moment: "I know very well when, but hardly how, the final step was taken. I was driven to Whitsnade one sunny morning. When we set out I did not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did. Yet I had not exactly spent the journey in thought. Nor in great emotion. 'Emotional' is perhaps the last word we can apply to some of the most important events. It was more like when a man, after a long sleep, still lying motionless in bed, becomes aware that he is now awake..."
His 'awakening' took place unexpectedly while riding on the upper level of a bus! He suddenly felt himself being offered a free choice. His response: "I chose to open, to unbuckle, to loosen the reign...For the first time I examined myself with a seriously practical purpose. And there I found what appalled me; a zoo of lusts, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears, a harem of fondled hatreds. My name was legion.""
He writes: "You must picture me alone in that room..., night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet."
He goes on to explain that this initial conversion was not to Christianity, but to theism - the belief in a god. His response was logical: "I started attending my parish church on Sundays and my college chapel on weekdays...I thought one ought to 'fly one's flag' by some unmistakable overt sign."
His humor erupts on this topic: "But though I liked clergymen as I liked bears, I had as little wish to be in the Church as in the zoo." Lewis struggled with the hymns, disappointments and "time-wasting botheration of it all", but persisted.
Finally, he describes his critical moment: "I know very well when, but hardly how, the final step was taken. I was driven to Whitsnade one sunny morning. When we set out I did not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did. Yet I had not exactly spent the journey in thought. Nor in great emotion. 'Emotional' is perhaps the last word we can apply to some of the most important events. It was more like when a man, after a long sleep, still lying motionless in bed, becomes aware that he is now awake..."
The journey toward faith is as endlessly varied as the people who take it. No cookie-cutter formula can describe it. Neither can the outcome of this journey be reliably predicted. Many snares, pitfalls and diversions line the way. We are free people and there are two options: to fall on our knees or turn on our heels. Either we may seek to conform our desires to the truth, which leads to conviction, or we may seek to conform the truth to our desires, which leads to evasion. But what is important is that WE DO HAVE A CHOICE!
Make your choice with eternity's values in view!
