Shaowlands

Yesterday was my birthday. My boyfriend took me to dinner with friends and then to the great Guthrie Theater to see Shadowlands, the love story of C. S. Lewis and Joy Gresham.

It's a very familiar story to me.

Most people know that C. S. Lewis was one of the brightest academics ever, having written The Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe, Surprised by Joy, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters and countless other books.

He lived at Oxford with his brother and hung out with four other really smart people - like J. R. R. Tolkien. They called themselves the Inklings. At these meetings they shared some of their most famous writings for the first time. Works like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

Over the years, I've had people tell me that Lewis' late in life love affair was with some young, American floozy.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Joyce Gresham was an accomplished writer and activist and was his equal on many levels.

They had a short, tragic time together. As it turned out she was suffering from bone cancer when they met.

What's remarkable to me is the softness she brought to this genius who lived almost totally in his head.

Following are some C. S. Lewis quotes from after the time Joy died...Ones that have helped me.

Grief is quite unlike what I imagined. I thought of it as a state, but it is really a process.

Indeed, the situation is not easy to describe. My heart is breaking and I was never so happy before; at any rate there is more to life than I knew about.

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.

I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God. It changes me.


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