CG. S. Lewis and "The Everlasting Man"

"As for books, the very best popular defense of the full Christian position I know is G.K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man." - C. S. Lewis

Last night my wife and I watched Shadowlands - the excellent Anthony Hopkins/Debra Winger version. The movie depicts the relationship of C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman (taking some theatrical liberties) from their meeting to just after her death. Winger was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal. 

In the movie, Lewis notes that they had both been atheists, but had found faith. In Lewis' case, Chesterton played a role. It was reading The Everlasting Man that helped him discover Christianity - along with his friendship with J. R. Tolkien. 

In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, Lewis talked about reading Chesterton.

"I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some 'second cause' of a very obscure kind, quite overrules our previous tastes when it decides to bring to minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love."

That first encounter was with The Everlasting Man in 1925 while still an atheist.

“Then I read Chesterton’s Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense . . . I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive; apart from his Christianity; Now, I veritably believe, I thought that Christianity itself was very sensible; apart from its Christianity.” 

He recommended the book to others, as he did in the quote at the top of this entry. In 1963, six months before he died, he observed in God in the Dock, “The contemporary book that has helped me the most is Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man.” 

Chesterton and Dostoyevsky

 “The one thing this Russian loves is Liberty. The one place where he finds it is in … no, not Christianity… Christ. Compared with that, he cares nothing for anything.” - G. K. Chesterton

I recently finished reading Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Possessed (also called The Devils). It was one of my reading goals for this year. It also means I have now read all of Dostoyevsky's four great novels, the other three being The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot, and Crime and Punishment. (I've also read Notes from the Underground.)

As I read it, I couldn't help thinking about the current socialist upsurge in the Democratic Party in the United States. His satire of the radicals/socialists in Russia could easily be applied to our progressives today.

I knew that Chesterton, like me, appreciated Dostoyevsky. He once wrote that Dostoyevsky "was one of the two or three greatest novelists of the nineteenth century. And he cared for nothing but Christ who had made him free. It is worth thinking about.”

I found a lecture that even dealt with Chesterton and Dostoyevsky. 

https://youtu.be/2v2pEyoU8ps?si=pUfomTC4KZ4ymR0Y

Nobel Committee Considered Tolkien Unworthy

 

In 1961, the Nobel Prize committee rejected J. R. R. Tolkien for the Literature Prize, deeming his work as unworthy.

The prize jury said his works had "not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality".

Tolkien had been nominated for the prize by C. S. Lewis. The nomination had come after The Lord of the Rings trilogy had been published - The Return of the King, the last volume, came out in 1955. The committee said LOTR was “not comparable to works of the highest literary quality.”

He was nominated again in 1967 and 1969 after LOTR had developed a wider following - but he was rejected again.

Apparently, they did not like fantasy.

Ironically, by the end of the 20th Century and early in the 21st Century The Lord of the Rings topped many polls as the most significant or greatest book of the 20th Century.

 

Six Catholic Authors

 

Some friends made the list!

6 great Christian authors (and how to start reading them) - Catholic Courier

Fauci Clerihew

 

In light of this "testimony" before Congress, and his later swearing at reporters, I scribbled:

Dr. Anthony Fauci
is feeling a little grouchy.
He heeded what his lawyers said,
now his reputation and credibility are basically dead

Not great, lacks whimsy, but oh well... 

Death Is Part of the Adventure

“The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.”

I went to a funeral today. The mother of one of the members of my Secular Franciscan Fraternity passed away at 92. I was there to support him; I did not know her. But some of the comments by her family made it clear she was a good soul and much loved.

As I sat there, I thought about the fact that Chesterton died when he was just 62. He did not make it to the Biblical prediction about longevity: "Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty, if we are strong."

But given his weight, his diet, his drinking, his smoking, not surprising that he died relatively young.

By the way, the longevity of some of the "Friends":

Hilaire Belloc - 82

J. R. R. Tolkien - 81 

C. S. Lewis - 64 

Chesterton was a happy soul, not obsessed with death and what lies beyond. He did comment on it, though.

In the quotation at the beginning of this post, he does talk about how awareness of death can affect our view of what we have. Life is transient, death is inevitable, appreciate what we have and the people in our lives. Think of all the times when someone passes we regret not spending more time with them or realize what they meant to us and others.

Another quotation expressing a similar thought is: 

"It is this passionate sense of the value of things: of the richness of the cosmic treasure: the world where every star is a diamond, every leaf an emerald, every drop of blood a ruby, it is this sense of preciousness that is really awakened by the death of His saints”

One comment he made about the afterlife deals with the place we don't want to go.

“Hell is God’s great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human choice”

Yes, we do have free will, and we can choose Hell; God does not send us there. The fact that it exists is indeed a compliment. 

There are other quotations related to death and eternity, but here's one about living that struck me. 

“Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.”

It takes courage to act and to fully live - but in acting and living we face the possibility of failure or death. If we fear failure and death too much, we can become paralyzed and not do what needs to be done or to live up to our potential.

One final quotation, one that is often cited.

“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”

Death is passive; truly living involves struggling and facing the challenges of living.

Living is an adventure, and death is just part of it.

A Message to Garcia

For several years I taught at a private Christian school. The school was run by a branch of the Plymouth Brethren that separated themselves as much as possible from the world, hence they created their own school to avoid their children being tainted by worldly education.

There are many tales I could tell about teaching there, but I'll stick to one that involves my sarcastic sense of humor and my big mouth.

The board overseeing the school consisted largely of businessmen. For a teacher conference one year they gave all the teachers in advance copies of A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard. The book consisted of an 1899 essay that promoted initiative and conscientiousness in work. The essay is about the mission of Lieutenant Andrew Rowan to General Calixto Garcia in Cuba just before the Spanish-American War broke out.

Rowan was supposed just to make contact with Garcia and to serve as an observer, and there was actually no letter or message. Hubbard took extensive liberties with the actual story, using it as a means to show determination on the part of Rowan. He supposedly single-mindedly pursued his mission, overcoming obstacles, and never complaining. The essay became a best seller much loved by businessmen like those running our school.

On the day of the teacher conference the head of the board asked what we thought the message of the book was. Being a sarcastic sort, I replied, "Shut up and do your job."

They were not amused. Indeed, the principal chewed me out during a break.

After that incident, I did create one of my slugku (a humorous series of haiku that all begin with the line " a slug among weeds") about Hubbard's version of the story, and even added it to a picture of Rowan and Garcia.



I recently did a little more reading about the event, and about General Garcia. One thing I discovered was he was married, but had a series of mistresses and illegitimate children. I got inspired and wrote a clerihew.

Calixto Garcia
was writing a love note to a pretty senorita
when Andrew Rowan burst into his life
with a message Garcia feared might be from his jealous wife.

Sometimes imagination is more amusing than just the facts. Hubbard certainly seemed to think that!