My tempestuous relationship with C.S. Lewis

I have been trying to read C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity" for three years. Now I will admit that while I love learning, storytelling, and so many of my family members are complete bookworms, I am not the greatest reader. I know that sounds silly. I can read fine, but it was always something that I struggled with in school and have NEVER... EVER enjoyed. I have to force myself to read because it is one of those things that I hope one day (with some persistence) will be something I love. Sort of like the taste of olives. I generally travel with a few books and try to get through a couple per year, which I know sounds pitiful, but if you are around when I finish a book you will certainly hear all about it because it is such an accomplishment for me. One of those books I have had with me for years is "Mere Christianity." I have heard so much about Lewis and particularly about how this book is one of those essential reads for any Christian. I have read the first 5 pages probably 15 times in my attempts to get into the book, but Lewis is so complex in his writing that I could never get much further. It seemed every sentence was packed with more theology and apologetic theory than my little brain could handle. This spring I knuckled down, though and I am proud to say that I did the impossible and finished the book!!! Ha! Lewis is truly a genius and obviously has a mind that works unlike anyone else in the world. The ideas are heavy, hard, and complex, but brilliant. One of my favorite commentaries was at the end of the book in the last chapter. The author writes of how we as Christians are a nation of different beings, hardly related to humans at all in our transformation through Christ. He describes what this group of "new men" will be like:

"Already the new men are dotted here and there all over the earth. Some, as I have admitted, are still hardly recognisable: but others can be recognised. Every now and then one meets them. Their very voices and faces are different from ours; stronger, quieter, happier, more radiant. They begin where most of us leave off. They are, I say, recognisable; but you must know what to look for. They will not be very like the idea of "religious people" which you have formed from your general reading. They do not draw attention to themselves. You tend to think that you are being kind to them when they are really being kind to you. They love you more than other men do, but they need you less. (We must get over wanting to be needed: in some goodish people, specially women, that is the hardest of all temptations to resist.) They will usually seem to have a lot of time: you will wonder where it comes from. When you have recognised one of them, you will recognize the next one much more easily. And I strongly suspect (but how should I know?) that they recognize one another immediately and infallibly, across every barrier of colour, sex, class, age, and even of creeds. In that way, to become holy is rather like joining a secret society. To put it at the very lowest, it must be great fun."

I love this. Such simple, but precise thoughts on what Christians may look like after being changed by Christ completely. I can think of a few people in my life who come so closely to the description above (my grandparents, Edgar and Virginia Drake, my dear friend, Laura Cochran, my sisters, Taylor and Shannon, and so many others in my family) and it makes total sense. I am thankful that I have those people to look to and see what Christ is doing in the world. Their gentle spirits and quiet wisdom are tangible. And the radiance Lewis speaks of: they have that. You can see it from a mile away.

Becoming more radiant everyday,
Tripp