Not a care in the world...

out at the reef.

Wisdom From the Pen of C.S. Lewis:

"The right direction leads not only to peace but to knowledge. When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people* know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either."

Excerpt from: Mere Christianity (Book III, Chapter 4)


*Lewis' use of the word "good" is so ironic. Think about it.

The Death of Summer

Autumn is a time of transition. Birds migrate, bears hibernate, and trees surrender their vibrantly colored leaves. I'm also forced to surrender. As the alluring sun follows the birds south, the world quickly becomes cold and dark. The liveliness of summer is but a memory. And left on the defensive, humanity hides from the cold, the snow, and the repulsively grey sky.

Some people seem to find comfort in this retreat, in the warmth of a fireplace, a fuzzy blanket, or a cup or tea. I don't understand that.

Black & White

I'm convinced that the world was colorless up until the second half of the 20th Century. I mean, seriously. Even Beaver Cleaver's grass stains were grey, not green.

So I wonder who invented color in the mid-1900's. Whoever that was, I'm sure glad they brought color into the world. I can't imagine life without orange and yellow and blue and green and purple. How did my parents grow up like that without going crazy? Well, I suppose they didn't know any better.

Did you know?

Citgo Petroleum Corporation is a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company.

Now remember Hugo Chávez's UN address a couple weeks ago. The Venezuelan president's fallacious claims and vehement anti-US propaganda echoed throughout the world. I, for one - with that in mind - will pass Citgo gas stations as long as they belong to the Venezuelan government and head to the nearest competitor.

Life & Death

I was sitting in my room, playing with dolls when my mom walked in to announce the horrific news: my dad had just found our dog, Griswold, dead in our yard. I was in shock. No one had foreseen this tragedy. I sat on the floor and stared at the wall for a while.

Griswold had been born in a litter of bullmastiffs during my parents' short-lived dog breeding experiment, while I was an infant. He was my dad's favorite dog, and this love was reciprocated in full. Griswold was gentle giant who put up with a lifetime of torment from three young children and warded off possible threats with his intimidating appearance.

About a month later, it's was Brian's sixth birthday and our whole family was gathered around a huge newspaper-covered box. Anticipation was building as my parents told us to guess what this enormous present might be. I shouted, "A trampoline!" And Brian predicted that it was a dog. At that, my parents told him to open it and see. The three of us vigorously tore the newspaper away and unveiled a metal cage. Brian peeked through the first available hole and squealed with delight. My parents had already named our eight-week-old collie. In hindsight, that was a good decision, since my brothers and I used to come up with the lamest names for our pets: names like "Rascal," "Quackers," and "Speckles." So fortunately for everyone, my parents chose a traditional, feminine, and sophisticated name: Lady.

By the early evening, our tired-out puppy was conked out on the living room floor. Still very much aware of Griswold's death, I asked my dad how long Lady would live. He replied that dogs her size usually live about ten years, and I happily concluded that Lady would pretty much be around forever. My 18th birthday was too far off to fathom.

Lady was an adorable puppy, who grew up into a loyal, patient, submissive, and affectionate dog. She traveled with us to Belize every winter and swam with our family in front of our house. Lady consoled me when I cried and accompanied me when I was lonely. I remember one day when I thought Lady was my only friend in the world. She "played house" with my brothers and me; and when we acted out our favorite TV show, "Flipper," she was the dolphin. Whenever we pulled into our channel by boat, Lady would run up and down the beach in celebration of her masters' return. Everyone who came to my house knew and respected Lady. She was quite a dog.

I was wrong, however, about my 18th birthday. It came and went. And a couple months after I left for my freshmen year at Grove City College, my forever favorite dog passed away while she was asleep. My mom called me at college with tears in her voice, and after I had received the bad news, I found myself in shock once again. Lady was gone. Her lifeless body would soon be surrounded by dirt, and I would never hear her bark again.

I've never loved another dog as much as I did Lady. Maybe someday I will, but she's a tough act to follow.

Food for Thought...

"All right, Christianity will do you good - a great deal more than you ever wanted or expected. And the first bit of good it will do you is to hammer into your head (you won't enjoy that!) the fact that what you have hitherto called "good" - all that about "leading a decent life" and "being kind" - isn't quite the magnificent and all-important affair you supposed. It will teach you that in fact you can't be "good" (not for twenty-four hours) on your own moral efforts. And then it will teach you that even if you were, you still wouldn't have achieved the purpose for which you were created. Mere morality is not the end of life. You were made for something quite different from that.... The people who keep on asking if they can't lead a decent life without Christ, don't know what life is about; if they did they would know that "a decent life" is mere machinery compared with the thing we men are really made for. Morality is indispensable: but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which calls us to be gods, intends for us something in which morality will be swallowed up. We are to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to disappear - the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: a real Man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy."

Excerpt from: "Man or Rabbit?"
in God in the Dock, by C.S. Lewis