I have typed/deleted/typed again & then deleted an introduction to this post. My mind is circling around a lot of different things from this week & I'm trying to make it all make sense on the screen & well, it just isn't working.
I read the following excerpt from C.S. Lewis' God in the Dock on Monday & I cannot get it out of my head & more importantly off my heart. Instead of trying to put all my swirling thoughts into intelligent sentences (while sitting at the table with 8 opened cans of Play-Doh & two sweet & creative girls) I'll just let C.S. Lewis do the talking.
Fair warning: It is long. But so worth the read.
The Christian & The Materialist
"If Christianity should happen to be true, this it is quite impossible that those who know this truth & those who don't should be equally well equipped for leading a good life. Knowledge of the facts must make a difference to one's actions. Suppose you found a man on the point of starvation & wanted to do the right thing. If you had no knowledge of medical science, you would probably give him a large solid meal; & as a result your man would die. In the same way a Christian & a non-Christian may both wish to do good to their fellow men. The one believes that men are going to live for ever, that they were created by God & so built that they can find their true & lasting happiness only by being united to God, that they have gone badly off the rails, & that obedient faith in Christ is the only way back. The other believes that men are an accidental result of the blind working of matter, that they started as mere animals & have more or less steadily improved, that they are going to live for about 70 years, that their happiness is fully attainable by good social services & political organizations, & that everything else (e.g., vivisection, birth-control, the judicial system, education) is to be judged to be "good" or "bad" simply in so far as it helps or hinders that kind of "happiness."
Now there are quite a lot of things which these two men could agree in doing for their fellow citizens. Both would approve of efficient sewers & hospitals & a healthy diet. But sooner or later the difference of their beliefs would produce differences in their practical proposals. Both, for example, might be very keen about education: but the kinds of education they wanted people to have would obviously be very different. Again, where the Materialist would simply ask about a proposed action, "Will it increase the happiness of the majority?," the Christian might have to say, "Even if it does increase the happiness of the majority, we can't do it. It is unjust." And all the time, one great difference would run through their whole policy. To the Materialist things like nations, classes, civilizations must be more important than individuals, because the individuals live only 70 odd years & the group may last for centuries. But to the Christian, individuals are important, for they live eternally; & races, civilization & the like, are in comparison the creature of a day.
The Christian & the Materialist hold different beliefs about the universe. They can't both be right. The one who is wrong will act in a way which simply doesn't fit the real universe. Consequently, with the best will in the world, he will be helping his fellow creatures to their destruction."
Even worse than needing an introduction to this is that now I need to finish this post. :) Just know that God is using this to soften my heart this week on how I see people. How my actions & words can either hinder or advance the Gospel.
Four years ago today, this sweet bundle of pure joy was placed in my arms for the first time. My life long dream of being a "mommy" was fulfilled & the ability to love at first sight was not only proven true but seared deep into my heart.
