"Surprised by Joy"

February 1, 1918 – C. S. Lewis reads G. K. Chesterton [ http://www.ccel.org/c/chesterton ] while hospitalized for trench foot. [ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/trench+foot ]
“In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, [ http://www.macdonaldphillips.com/legacy.html]  I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.” C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy. [ http://www.cslewis.org/sitemap.html ]

Sometimes Christian conversion is spectacular. Sometimes it is a gradual realization of truth. In every case the convert is “surprised by joy.”

Acts 9: 1-19 - Saul’s Conversion
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Wisdom, Love and Fear

"'Charles Williams gave his first lecture at the Divinity School at Oxford on this day in 1940; he spoke on Milton.'
“'I have at last, if only for once, seen a university doing what it was founded to do: teaching wisdom.' C. S. Lewis, describing the second Williams lecture to Warren Lewis." Around the Year with C. S. Lewis and Friends, compiled by Kathryn Lindskoog

“The end of all learning is to know God, and out of that knowledge to love and imitate Him.”
― John Milton

Proverbs 9:10-12
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
For through wisdom your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.
If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

Amazing Grace
‘Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear,
And Grace that fear relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear,
The hour I first believed.
 -- John Newton

I have nothing to add.

Happy Birthday, Lewis Carroll

Birthday of Lewis Carroll in 1832.

'It's a cravat, child, and a beautiful one, as you say. It's a present from the White King and Queen. There now!'
'Is it really?' said Alice, quite pleased to find that she had chosen a good subject after all.
'They gave it me,' Humpty Dumpty continued thoughtfully as he crossed one knee over the other and clasped his hands round it, 'they gave it me — for an un-birthday present.'
'I beg your pardon?' Alice said with a puzzled air.
'I'm not offended,' said Humpty Dumpty.
'I mean, what is an un-birthday present?'
'A present given when it isn't your birthday, of course.'
Alice considered a little. 'I like birthday presents best,' she said at last.
Alice in Wonderland

“The first fact about the celebration of a birthday is that it is a way of affirming defiantly, and even flamboyantly, that it is a good thing to be alive.” G. K. Chesterton, Our Birthday. [ http://books.google.com/books?id=xqYiR3WO7RAC&pg=PA166&lpg=PA166&dq=G.+K.+Chesterton+%22Our+Birthday%22&source=bl&ots=zbgRduxpYp&sig=7ssoBniS45CoL-i7pYV9XbS134Y&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nAciT_PaFMyltwfMyoWiCw&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false ]

This essay addressing philosophical differences with Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell and H. G. Wells, among others, is an affirmation of life and an acknowledgement of our dependence on God.

Acts 17: 25- 28 - NIV
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’