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Wonderful things from C.S.Lewis
Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:45 pm
by 1over137
I am almost finished with Wonderful book The Four Loves. Am at the last chapter Charity. There is so much nice things in there, the whole book. I cannot quote the whole book, but this one I wished to share:
"There is no escape along the lines St Augustine suggests. Nor along any other lines. There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to 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. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. I believe that the most lawless and inordinate loves are less contrary to God’s will than a self-invited and self-protective lovelessness. It is like hiding the talent in a napkin and for much the same reason. ‘I knew thee that thou wert a hard man.’ Christ did not teach and suffer that we might become, even in the natural loves, more careful of our own happiness. If a man is not uncalculating towards the earthly beloveds whom he has seen, he is none the more likely to be so towards God whom he has not. We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which they should break, so be it."
Re: Wonderful things from C.S.Lewis
Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:10 am
by PaulSacramento
Beautifully said.
Sometimes we forget that love IS the way and the greatest of commandments left to us by Christ.
Re: Wonderful things from C.S.Lewis
Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:48 am
by 1over137
First, we are to love God and second, our fellows.
Re: Wonderful things from C.S.Lewis
Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:51 am
by PaulSacramento
1over137 wrote:First, we are to love God and second, our fellows.
I often wonder about this and here's why:
No one can love God BEFORE they learn/understand what love is and to do that we must first be loved and love another.
For us to love God we must first be loved and understand love and then we must learn how to love back and why we love, etc.
Now, there are different types of love, this we all agree on ( I think) and, IMO, the type of love we have for God is unique and special, far different than the love we have for Parents, siblings, spouses and children and it is a love that, IMO, we can't really have in the way I THINK God want's us to have UNLESS we know Christ and we He did for us and WHY.
Re: Wonderful things from C.S.Lewis
Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 11:31 am
by 1over137
PaulSacramento wrote:1over137 wrote:First, we are to love God and second, our fellows.
I often wonder about this and here's why:
No one can love God BEFORE they learn/understand what love is and to do that we must first be loved and love another.
For us to love God we must first be loved and understand love and then we must learn how to love back and why we love, etc.
Now, there are different types of love, this we all agree on ( I think) and, IMO, the type of love we have for God is unique and special, far different than the love we have for Parents, siblings, spouses and children and it is a love that, IMO, we can't really have in the way I THINK God want's us to have UNLESS we know Christ and we He did for us and WHY.
I wrote that since I had on my mind the ten commandments, esspecialy the first one:
Exodus 20:2-3
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [a]slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
It seems you are talking about chronological order. How can we love God unless the love is shown to us?
But I was talking about the case when we already have received love from God. We are to love God the most. We cannot love some person more. That would be idolatry. Well, I meant it in importancy level order.
Re: Wonderful things from C.S.Lewis
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 5:25 am
by PaulSacramento
1over137 wrote:PaulSacramento wrote:1over137 wrote:First, we are to love God and second, our fellows.
I often wonder about this and here's why:
No one can love God BEFORE they learn/understand what love is and to do that we must first be loved and love another.
For us to love God we must first be loved and understand love and then we must learn how to love back and why we love, etc.
Now, there are different types of love, this we all agree on ( I think) and, IMO, the type of love we have for God is unique and special, far different than the love we have for Parents, siblings, spouses and children and it is a love that, IMO, we can't really have in the way I THINK God want's us to have UNLESS we know Christ and we He did for us and WHY.
I wrote that since I had on my mind the ten commandments, esspecialy the first one:
Exodus 20:2-3
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [a]slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
It seems you are talking about chronological order. How can we love God unless the love is shown to us?
But I was talking about the case when we already have received love from God. We are to love God the most. We cannot love some person more. That would be idolatry. Well, I meant it in importancy level order.
What we have for God is DEVOTIONAL Love and it is far different that the love we have for each other/spouse/children, etc.
Somehow I don't see God demanding Love and I certainly don't see Him demanding we Love Him MORE than our children.
When we give God our devotional love, we become complete, loving God is a good thing and in doing so we "return" to God.
Much like finding our "soul mate" gives us this feeling of completeness and "returning home".
I have head many skeptics criticize the "commandment" to Love God, as if love can be demanded or commanded.
This criticism is invalid simply because the nature of How we love God and WHY is misunderstood by them.
The commandment to Love God is a commandment to be our true selves, to be our CORRECT selves ( someone that truly loves God will be a more moral and righteous and complete person) and as such it is like the commandment to not murder, not steal and to honour those that have given us life and taken care of us ( parents), it is a commandment for correct living, correct existence that leads us to being complete and in the end, happy and content.
Re: Wonderful things from C.S.Lewis
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 6:03 am
by 1over137
Thanks. So, it is called devotional love.
Re: Wonderful things from C.S.Lewis
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 6:15 am
by PaulSacramento
1over137 wrote:Thanks. So, it is called devotional love.
Well, that's what I call it
I think we agree that the love we have/are suppose to have for God is quite unique and different than the love we have for others.
It isn't that we have to love God more than our children ( as an example) in the sense that we prioritize God above them.
No, God doesn't NEED us to do that because God is very well aware of how we feel for Him, perhaps better then we are.
It's not that we are suppose to choose God above those we have "earthly" love for ( though in certain circumstances that may SEEM to be the case).
The love we have for God is solely for God because it can only be applied to God.
Re: Wonderful things from C.S.Lewis
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:12 am
by 1over137
Matthew 22:36-40
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
What do you think of above?
Re: Wonderful things from C.S.Lewis
Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:37 am
by PaulSacramento
1over137 wrote:Matthew 22:36-40
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
What do you think of above?
Who was Jesus addressing?
Jesus answered peoples questions base don what HE knew THEY needed to hear.
I am sure that His response to a non-jew would have been quite different, yes?
That said, to command love is, as we all know, not what love is about. So either Jesus didn't understand love or He must mean something else than how WE "interpret" command.
What we must ask ourselves is what did His AUDIENCE understand about what He said.