I saw that all my waitings and watchings for Joy, all of my vain hopes to find some mental content on which I could, so to speak, lay my finger and say “This is it,” had been a futile attempt to contemplate the enjoyed. All that such watching and waiting ever could find would be either an image (Asgard, the Western Garden, or what not) or a quiver in the diaphragm. I should never have to bother again about these images or sensations. I knew now that they were merely the mental track left by the passage of Joy – not the wave but the wave’s imprint on the sand. The inherent dialectic of desire itself had in a way already shown me this; for all images and sensations, if idolatrously mistaken for Joy itself, soon honestly confessed themselves inadequate. All said, in the last resort, “It is not I, I am only a reminder. Look! Look! What do I remind you of?”-- C.S. Lewis, in Surprised by Joy, chap.14, para.11 –
Today is C.S. Lewis’s birthday! He is 107.
Happy Birthday Jack!
Have a great Tuesday, ye all!
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3 comments:
Sorry to be so bold, but I thought of you today-twice as a matter of fact...Your blog is one of two I read every day-I quite enjoy your musings.
There is an article in the NY Times today about C.S. Lewis' "opinion" on a live action version of Narnia...http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/30/books/30narn2.html
and then in regards to Saturday's post I came across the following while looking for something interesting for my Women in Religion class...http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/30/books/30narn2.html. It may be too controversial or irreverent for your tastes, but it sounded interesting and thought I'd give it a read.
Cleo, thank you for your comments.
The link you sent did not work, as it is asking me to sign in as a paid subscriber to the NY Times.
I've taken the liberty of sending you the articles via the e-mail address you've listed on this site. This should solve the access problem.
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