friendship

CS Lewis describes friendship to be the most spiritual of loves. He states that out of all the loves this is the least corrupted. To have friendship one must be centered with their friend around a common interest. He explains that when a relationship is started between a man and a woman they are looking towards each other. When a friendship is started they are side by side looking towards a common interest. This is why friendship is best carachterized by male-male relationships or female-female relationships. CS Lewis states that the friendship between a man and a woman is always compromised by the thought of being more than just a friendship unless they are extremely ugly so that there is no possibility of attraction there. This was interesting to me because I found it to be true in my life. When I become friends with a girl the possibility is always there. At times it can even make things awkward. The only time it works is when I am completely unattracted to them like Lewis comments on.
Another interesting thought mentioned in this article is that friendship is not necessary for survival. Humans must have a mate in order for us to reproduce, but friendship is not at all necessary. CS Lewis writes that friendship can be compared to the existence of this earth. God did not need it to survive but made it anyway. Friendship is not necessary but is made to make survival wortwhile.

Eros

I found it intriguing that CS Lewis described the Eros as completely toward the person emotionally in the sense that it wouldn't even matter if she was a woman or not. CS Lewis is stating that there is nothing sexual about it. When a person falls in love with another with eros they are in love with who they are, not with what they look like. He also describes that venus, the sexual love, is within eros for the perfect marriage. When two people are married they need to have that attraction there. If it isn't there then it is almost as though they care for them more as a close friend and not as a spouse. This is important to keep in mind. If there is no attraction there then there is no appeal to get married. It would change nothing in the realtionship and maybe even make it awkward.
CS Lewis brings up the point that Venus can exist outside of eros. The two are connected but do not have to be. One can have a sexual attraction without being in love with the person. This made sense to me. Living in a Christian home and growing up in Christian School, I was always under the impression that sexual attraction like that was bad and a sin. When I grew older I began to understand that it was a nessesary part of life. When CS Lewis describes it as going hand in hand with the other aspects of love in a relationship it really helped me understand what place the sexual attraction has in the life of a Christian.

The sermon and the lunch

I found this article very interesting because I grew up in a pastor's home. I sometimes saw this to be true in lots of homes that we went and visited and even in our own home. I found it interesting when he stated that it wasn't because the preacher was insicere. It was the fact that he was preaching on an ideal home situation that did not exist. I really liked the way he described this. in my home I always saw that my dad was really doing this for the right reasons and he was very sincere. I saw that people didn't listen to him because he would do this very thing. Reading this helped me understand why some people who have good things to say are ignored by people. I think it also has to do with being hypocritical. I saw a lot of people who were completely different people once they left the church. When I saw this I would immediately ignore them in the church. I never could listen those people because they were not fit to be preaching these things in my mind. I would stonewall and block them out completely. This can cause lots of problems. I think this is why people need to live according to the word. How is a nonbeliever going to ever come to Christ if christians are not the kind of people one would want to have anything to do with?

vocation in the kingdom of God

In this chapter Plantinga touches on the fact that our whole purpose here on this earth is to strive for the kingdom of God. He describes how those in miserable circumstances search for it with that much more hope and passion. He pushes us to strive for it with the same passion. He states that everything we do is pushing us toward or away from the kingdom. He urges us not to be comfortable with the world we live in to where we don't want the kingdom to come back just yet but to push for the coming of the kingdom at all times and in all circumstances. He urges us to have that passion for the kingdom. He also tries to emphasize the point that the kingdom should be our only desire. We should not be happy with the things of this world but always yearn for the coming of the kingdom. Later on he spoke of how the best place for us to leasrn of this was through christian schools. I don't know if it was merely propaganda but I don't think he really thought this through. If you are at a christian school you are completely surrounded by things of God that you would not see at a public school, but there are some benefits of going to a public school as well. One of the things I have noticed is that public schools have so much more of reality. They can help one strengthen their faith if they can overcome. this is very important I think because otherwise when you graduate and you go out into the real world and all of the sudden are surrounded by all these things that were just taken out of the equation earlier. I do think there are benefits to both. I really think it depends on where you are at within your faith.

Learning in the war time

I liked the point he made of living for things that don't matter. he states that we should not live to save lives. We could die to save lives but by no means should we live for it. He describes the person that does as a monomaniac or obsessed. I believe the point he is trying to make here is that everything we do should be to live toward the prospect of going to heaven. He states early on in the essay that all people live each day as moving towards heaven or hell. I believe he is stating that when people live for material things of this world they achieve nothing. The only things that they may achieve are lost as soon as they leave this earth. He quotes the scripture that states whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. He is pointing out the fact that living for God is the only thing that we should be doing. To die for you country is noble, but to live for your country is wrong. To spend your life commited to something that is not God is useless. Only god can make your life worth having. This really stood out to me because I realize I do this in my own life. I tend to make God the basic overseer that is there only to let me know when I;m doing something I know I shouldn't. I have that view and then I devote my life to my own agendas. I live for myself. After reading this it made me really consider what i need to do to live my life for God and not for myself.

letter eight and nine

In this letter screwtape teaches wormwood about the use of troughs. He explains that every human needs God. God created them like that. God wants people to serve him and become like sons. Satan wants them to brought like cattle to hell and used for food. This is why we have troughs. It is a time when we feel separated from God. Screwtape describes these as extremely dangerous. He states that if a person is in a trough and still obeys then their hope is lost. They are done for. He explains that they need to use these troughs to bring the person against God. He shows that when they go through these troughs it is a great time to tempt them with sexual sins. They are weak and much more willing to give into these sins during troughs. He also explains how they can use their ideas of religion against them. He explains the use of easily despairing Christians to make them unsure of Christianity. He says they can also bring the hopeful ones down by making them think that all is well. He states that they eventually become comfortable with it all and believe that this is where they should be. He describes this as a moderate religion. He also states that a moderate religion is just as good as no religion at all. This is extremely good to know because it allows us to look into our own lives and see when we are living moderately. When we do this we are living outside of God's kingdom. It's a good thing to be aware of. It's also good to know that troughs are generally normal. When we come to expect them it is easier to deal with them. Then when the next one comes it won't be nearly as hard as the first one was.

letter one

I found it interesting that Screwtape suggested that jargon was the best way to bring someone away from "the enemy." This makes sense because the truth would lead them to finding Christ. He comments that argument is useless to them and that they need to use alternative means to accomplish their goals. He suggests using distractions as well. This explains a lot to me because distractions are what makes it hardest for me to have my time with God. Screwtape relates a story that the man he was after nearly found God but he pointed out that he was hungry. This distracted him enough to allow him to think that those things like religion are just a waste of time. I also found it interesting that he pointed out that their job was not to teach. They need to keep their patients in the dark. Once he begins to reason and think about the things he is taking in their argument is lost. Their goal is to avoid letting him think about his situation at all costs. Let him think he is fine.