Made for Another World...

Quote from Lewis' Mere Christianity, photo source here.

The author who gave us Aslan and the land of Narnia, C. S. Lewis, was for many years an atheist. He described his conversion in Surprised by Joy: "In the Trinity term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God ... perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England."

Between 1941 and 1944, Lewis was invited to give a series of talks about Christianity on BBC radio. After the first set of talks was well received he also presented some lectures to soldiers, which he considered war work. His broadcasts resulted in many people converting to Christianity - and a lot of letters for Lewis to answer. The text of his talks was published in a book called Mere Christianity.

C.S. Lewis' seven Chronicles of Narnia were written and published between 1948 and 1956.  (Click here to read "Narnia: Fantasy in Fur Coats" from a BBC biographical article about Lewis.)

You are mistaken when you think that everything in the books 'represents' something in this world. Things do that in The Pilgrim's Progress [a 1678 allegory by John Bunyan] but I'm not writing in that way. I did not say to myself 'Let us represent Jesus as He really is in our world by a Lion in Narnia': I said, 'Let us suppose that there were a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as he became a Man in our world, became a Lion there, and then imagine what would happen.' 

-C.S. Lewis, quoted in Walter Hooper, C. S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide

The last book Lewis published, and one he considered his best, was Till We Have Faces, an unusual retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche.  It's actually one of my favorite books - and is wonderful Lenten reading!

“Death opens a door out of a little, dark room (that's all the life we have known before it) into a great, real place where the true sun shines and we shall meet” (from Till We Have Faces).

  

C.S. Lewis died on the 22nd November, 1963, one week shy of his 65th birthday. He never wanted his death to be widely acknowledged, and he got his way. American President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on the same day. The author of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, also died on the 22nd.

St. Nicholas Day is Almost Here...

"I’ve come at last. She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. 
Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s magic is weakening." - Father Christmas, 
from C.S. Lewis' The Lion, Witch and The Wardrobe [Source] 

This beautiful illustration by Pauline Baynes was printed in 1991. Pauline Baynes (1922 – 2008) was an English book illustrator, whose work encompassed more than 100 books, notably those by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.

If you're not familiar with St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) and its traditions, you will find my past posts below (right-click the titles to read):
Will the Real Santa Claus Please Stand Up?

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Who is the Man in the Red Suit? 

St. Nicholas Day in Greece (Gold Coins!)

Belgian Cookies for St. Nicholas Day (picture books and recipe)

Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

A craft for St. Nicholas Day: Red Votives

Printables and instructions from St. Nicholas Center - here

There was a good bishop who lived long ago
There was a good bishop who lived long ago,

his memory is glorious, his legends are bold.
We call him Saint Nicholas, a servant of Christ,
who loved little children and taught what was right.

He is Father Christmas, and Santa Claus too.
He helped many people, the stories are true.
At Christmas he calls to us, both young and old,
To see that the story of Jesus is told.

The gifts that he brings us are signs of the love
That comes down at Christmas from heaven above.
We see Mother Mary, the babe in the stall,
With Joseph, the wise men and shepherds and all.

O blessed Saint Nik'las we hail you today.
The patron of many, to show us the way
To be good and generous, to help those in need,
To be kind to others in both word and deed.

[Text J.M. Rosenthal, 2002, source here: St. Nicholas Center]