Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Meditation in A Toolshed

I have never read much of C.S. Lewis’ works, but I found this piece of writing very interesting. This work shows that he is a very deep, intellectual man who really understands life. Meditation in a Toolshed is about Lewis’ experience of looking at and along the light beam. He makes an analogy of this to many aspects in our lives.

To clarify his point, Lewis gives the example of a young man in love. This man looks at his girl in a different way than the world does. He is “looking along the light beam.” The world is looking “at the light beam.” A person can not fully understand love when he has not been in love himself. Lewis also gives the example of pain. Someone cannot look at pain and know what it is unless he has experienced suffering. He needs to look at pain from the outside and inside to study and understand pain.

Lewis’ analogy of looking at and along the light beam also points to a greater biblical truth. The light beam comes from the sun so that we can see everything clearly. Looking at the light beam alone will not do us any good. The sun pictures Christ and His Word. By Him, we look along the light beam to see the world around us so that we can gain knowledge of Him. This requires wisdom, and the only way in which we can gain wisdom through learning is by humility. We need to listen to others around us because by ourselves, we can see only in part. With the advice of others, we can see different aspects of our life more clearly and understand ourselves as children of God.

1 comment:

  1. Dear Jori,
    Yes! We do need wisdom, humility, and a capability to listen! How much we need to pray that God will teach us trough our experiences... So we will grow faster...
    God bless you as you walk, live and learn about this wisdom!
    God bless
    Adriana & Paulo

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