this is an appreciation post for cs lewis (aka jack).

many of you know of my reverence for him. he is my favorite author.

i’ve been reading the screwtape letters, a satire he wrote from the perspective of a senior tempter in hell, named screwtape, advising his nephew in how to best tempt his “patient.” it’s so convicting and smart and eye opening and mind opening.

and that’s how mere christianity was as well: so many ideas presented so logically, yet i would have never considered them before. it makes sense of so much confusion, too.

and then i was just remembering the narnia series.. and just thinking about the scenes of the creation in narnia in the first book and the last scenes of the last book.. they just fill my heart with so much happiness because i know that’s the kind of story we are living in. maybe that doesn’t make any sense. i know we aren’t literally living in narnia, but jack did a pretty nice job of explaining the beauty and lavishness and joy and completion that is characteristic of our creation and our future.. it reflects God’s nature in such a lovely way.

if you haven’t read anything by him, please do.

surprised by joy

i’m reading cs lewis’ sort of autobiography. and it’s awesome.. this guy is so smart.

he quotes things in stinkin russian. just cause. and all the different books and poems and whatnot that he quotes.. like i swear he’s read every book ever.

and so there’s this part this is really cute… he was talking about how he always had to go to these neighborhood parties/dances. and he spent most of his time at home alone reading, simply because there weren’t that many other people around. and he just loved reading and writing so that’s what he did. but he didn’t just read normal books.. he read really smart books. i don’t even know half the books he was talking about but they’re all super smart. anyways he’d go to these parties, all chubby and young, dressed in his schoolboy outfit. but he’d use huge smart words, not because he wanted to show off, but because they were the only words he knew! so of course everyone thought he was trying to impress them. really, he would have loved to used slang and fit in. how crazy is that?!

~~so when i have a kid i’m totally going to lock him in a country home in ireland with a ton of scholarly books and he’ll have a genius vocabulary.~~

http://emmmmmmmmily.tumblr.com/post/4585253759/we-are-half-hearted-creatures

soo i posted that 8 months ago, and it got 82 notes :D GUYS I FEEL SO POPULAR!
thank you cs lewis!!

it still rings true.

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.

C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves. (via 18flyleafs)

(via ragingseas)

so much cs lewis on my dash right now!

almost every other post is something from him. this makes me happy :)

finally finished it!

i started reading Mere Christianity by CS Lewis when i got it. for Christmas. 6 months later i’m finally done!
it was an amazing book, but it was so much to take in.. i highly recommend it, but take it slow. you’ll a. remember it better b. be less likely to miss the impact some of these words can have.
it’s made me realize so many new things, come to terms with so many truths i had been ignoring, and has challenged me to grow in more different directions than i ever knew i could.

go read it. or, if you know me, ask for my copy. i won’t be mad if i don’t get it back for six months :)

God loves us not because we’re lovable, but because He is love. Not because He needs to receive, but because He delights to give.

C.S. Lewis (via deebella123)

(Source: francineannabelle, via deebella123)

day 9: a show

well i don’t like tv, so i’m doing a book:)

The Great Divorce by CS Lewis.
it’s wonderful, challenging, eye opening, and enjoyable. and it’s sooo short: i read it in less than two days.

can i just say

cs lewis is sooo amazing. if you’ve never read anything by him, you should go. now. run to the nearest bookstore! get something-anything-written by him. the chronicles of narnia, mere christianity,the great divorce, and the screwtape letters are my favorites. you should read them :)

only good things come from him. brooke fraser’s C.S.Lewis song and phil wickham’s sailing on a ship are only a few of the millions-okay, not millions, but close enough(:- of songs and other works inspired by his writings:)

we are half hearted creatures,

fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday by the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

-C.S.Lewis, The Weight of Glory