Remembering C.S.Lewis

I remember where I was when John Fitzgerald was assassinated in Dallas Texas fifty years ago today. At the time I was not aware that renowned atheist Aldous Huxley died that day, nor did I know that Oxford don and Christian apologist Clive Staples "Jack" Lewis died on November 22nd, 1963. Neither death had much of an impact on a nine-year-old.

Some of you will know of C.S. Lewis because of his Narnia series of children's books and the films that eventually ensued. He also created a science fiction series, a couple of entertaining books called the Screwtape Letters, which are missives from a junior demon reflecting on evil and sin. Lewis's Surprised By Joy is a thoughtful spiritual autobiography which influenced me as a young man, and his A Grief Observed at a later stage of my spiritual development.

What do I appreciate most about Lewis? Well, the Inklings for one. This was an informal but regular creative gathering which included J.R.R Tolkien (also a Christian) and others to discuss their literary works in progress. They met in a pub named The Eagle and Child, or The Bird and Baby as they called it. In a day when many congregations are convening "beer and bible" chats at local watering holes, some might be surprised that Lewis and his companions were decades out in front.


I am also impressed that Lewis did a series of B.B.C radio talks during the WWII which were improbably popular, given the rather heady theological reflection. They became the book Mere Christianity but only one of those radio broadcast recordings survived. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHxs3gdtV8A He was effectively using the only social medium available in that day.

While I haven't revisited Lewis' work in many years, he did contribute to my spiritual awakening at a critical time in my life. Have any of you been influenced by C.S. Lewis? Have you read any of his books, or seen the films?