That's the title of the latest C.S. Lewis essay I have read. It's great, so I thought I'd share it with everyone else (or at least those who read this blog :)).
"'After all,' said Clare, 'They had a right to happiness.' We were discussing something that once happened in our own neighbourhood. Mr. A had deserted Mrs. A and got his divorce in order to marry Mrs. B, who had likewise got her divorce in order to marry Mr. A. And there was certainly no doubt that Mr. A and Mrs. B were very much in love with one another. If they continued to be in love, and if nothing went wrong with their health or their income, they might reasonably expect to be very happy."
Rather than retype the entire thing, I have found it reproduced online. Read the entire thing - it really is good.
Other stuff:
Things that have ceased to surprise me:
1. The clothes people wear to court. Sometimes people walk in with these bizarre outfits, and I wonder what they were thinking when they walked out of their houses to go out in public, much less walked into the courthouse.
2. The stupidity of intoxicated persons. I have read so many case reports about people who have been drinking and get behind the wheel of a car, that I think I'm going to go blind. Probably not, but maybe. (maybe people are intoxicated when they get dressed to go to court)
3. The paternalism of commercials. I really dislike most commercials (as I have probably made abundantly clear) because they assume that the public is infantile. I have been informed, to my dismay, that the public really is at that level. How depressing!
4. The amazing grace of God. Okay, that really doesn't go on this list. God's grace actually never ceases to amaze me. :)
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Sunday, June 04, 2006
It's been awhile...
Since it has been awhile since I have posted anything, I may save a more substantive post for later, and just do a general update in this one - we'll see how it goes.
First, after a very valiantly fought two rounds (7 games each), the Phoenix Suns fell in Game 6 to the Dallas Mavericks. Everyone take a moment to grieve... okay...now, we must all cheer for the Mavs as they take on the Miami Heat.
Wedding plans update - the planning is going fine everyone - seriously, everything's under control.
I have been thinking lately about one particular letter out of C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters". I thought I'd transcribe a bit here. In this letter, Screwtape is writing to his nephew about the 'patient's' mother and the gluttony of Delicacy (in contrast to what we generally think of as gluttony).
"[W]hat do quantities matter, provided we can use a human belly and palate to produce querulousness, impatience, uncharitableness, and self-concern? Glubose has this old woman well in hand. She is a positive terror to hostesses and servants. She is always turning from what has been offered her to say with a demure little sigh and a smile 'Oh please, please...all I want is a cup of tea, weak but not too weak, and the teeniest weeniest bit of really crip toast.' You see? Because what she wants is smaller and less costly than what has been set before her, she never recognizes as gluttony her determination to get what she wants, however troublesome it may be to others. At the very moment of indulging her appetite she believes that she is practising temperance. In a crowded restaurant she gives a little scream at the plate which some overworked waitress has set before her and says, 'Oh, that's far, far too much! Take it away and bring me about a quarter of it.' If challenged, she would say she was doing this to avoid waste; in reality she does it because the particular shade of delicacy to which we have enslaved her is offended by the sight of more food than she happens to want.
The real value of the quient unobtrusive work which Glubose has been doin gfor years on this old woman can be gauged by the way in which her belly now dominates her whole life. The woman is in what may be called the 'All-I-want' state of mind. All she wants is a cup of tea properly made, or an egg properly boiled, or a slice of bread properly toasted. But she never finds any servant or any friend who can do these simple thinbgs 'properly' - because her 'properly' conceals an insatiable demand for the exact, and almost impossible, palatal pleasures which she imagines she remembers from the past; a past described by her as 'the days when you could get good servants' but know to us as the days when her senses were more easily pleased and she had pleasures of other kinds which made her less dependent on those of the table. Meanwhile, the daily disappointment produces daily ill temper: cooks give notice and friendships are cooled. If ever the Enemy introduces into her mind a faint suspicion that she is too interested in food, Glubose counters it by suggesting to her that she doesn't mind what she eats herself but 'does like to have things nice for her boy'. In fact, of course, her greed has been one of the chief sources of his domestic discomfort for many years."
There is more to the letter, but it addresses another side of gluttony, and I have been focusing more on this one.
Incidentally, in light of the recent sermons at Trinity about spiritual warfare, I believe that Lewis' allegories concerning the supernatural ("The Screwtape Letters", "The Great Divorce") are worth revisiting. Lewis has a way of making the supernatural seem so accessible and brings it into a very realistic sense, and always gets me to thinking about the reality of what he is talking about (even if it doesn't happen exactly as the book says).
But, as to the gluttony of delicacy - I think Lewis makes a valid, excellent point. Some people can be very concerned with having things 'just this way,' while consoling themselves (and, in my opinion, blinding themselves to the truth) with statements like the mother in Lewis' book - "it is to prevent waste", "this is for the benefit of someone else - I just want it nice for X". At any rate, it's an interesting idea.
I'm in the middle of a good book - "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" by Salman Rushdie. It's not as good as "The Satanic Verses", but I think I like it better than "The Moor's Last Sigh" although a couple of the minor characters are the same as the major characters in "The Moor's Last Sigh", a fact which I find fascinating.
I just found an interesting blog post on the Jolly Blogger.
Okay, well, that's enough from me for now. Everyone have a great week!
First, after a very valiantly fought two rounds (7 games each), the Phoenix Suns fell in Game 6 to the Dallas Mavericks. Everyone take a moment to grieve... okay...now, we must all cheer for the Mavs as they take on the Miami Heat.
Wedding plans update - the planning is going fine everyone - seriously, everything's under control.
I have been thinking lately about one particular letter out of C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters". I thought I'd transcribe a bit here. In this letter, Screwtape is writing to his nephew about the 'patient's' mother and the gluttony of Delicacy (in contrast to what we generally think of as gluttony).
"[W]hat do quantities matter, provided we can use a human belly and palate to produce querulousness, impatience, uncharitableness, and self-concern? Glubose has this old woman well in hand. She is a positive terror to hostesses and servants. She is always turning from what has been offered her to say with a demure little sigh and a smile 'Oh please, please...all I want is a cup of tea, weak but not too weak, and the teeniest weeniest bit of really crip toast.' You see? Because what she wants is smaller and less costly than what has been set before her, she never recognizes as gluttony her determination to get what she wants, however troublesome it may be to others. At the very moment of indulging her appetite she believes that she is practising temperance. In a crowded restaurant she gives a little scream at the plate which some overworked waitress has set before her and says, 'Oh, that's far, far too much! Take it away and bring me about a quarter of it.' If challenged, she would say she was doing this to avoid waste; in reality she does it because the particular shade of delicacy to which we have enslaved her is offended by the sight of more food than she happens to want.
The real value of the quient unobtrusive work which Glubose has been doin gfor years on this old woman can be gauged by the way in which her belly now dominates her whole life. The woman is in what may be called the 'All-I-want' state of mind. All she wants is a cup of tea properly made, or an egg properly boiled, or a slice of bread properly toasted. But she never finds any servant or any friend who can do these simple thinbgs 'properly' - because her 'properly' conceals an insatiable demand for the exact, and almost impossible, palatal pleasures which she imagines she remembers from the past; a past described by her as 'the days when you could get good servants' but know to us as the days when her senses were more easily pleased and she had pleasures of other kinds which made her less dependent on those of the table. Meanwhile, the daily disappointment produces daily ill temper: cooks give notice and friendships are cooled. If ever the Enemy introduces into her mind a faint suspicion that she is too interested in food, Glubose counters it by suggesting to her that she doesn't mind what she eats herself but 'does like to have things nice for her boy'. In fact, of course, her greed has been one of the chief sources of his domestic discomfort for many years."
There is more to the letter, but it addresses another side of gluttony, and I have been focusing more on this one.
Incidentally, in light of the recent sermons at Trinity about spiritual warfare, I believe that Lewis' allegories concerning the supernatural ("The Screwtape Letters", "The Great Divorce") are worth revisiting. Lewis has a way of making the supernatural seem so accessible and brings it into a very realistic sense, and always gets me to thinking about the reality of what he is talking about (even if it doesn't happen exactly as the book says).
But, as to the gluttony of delicacy - I think Lewis makes a valid, excellent point. Some people can be very concerned with having things 'just this way,' while consoling themselves (and, in my opinion, blinding themselves to the truth) with statements like the mother in Lewis' book - "it is to prevent waste", "this is for the benefit of someone else - I just want it nice for X". At any rate, it's an interesting idea.
I'm in the middle of a good book - "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" by Salman Rushdie. It's not as good as "The Satanic Verses", but I think I like it better than "The Moor's Last Sigh" although a couple of the minor characters are the same as the major characters in "The Moor's Last Sigh", a fact which I find fascinating.
I just found an interesting blog post on the Jolly Blogger.
Okay, well, that's enough from me for now. Everyone have a great week!
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