C.S. Lewis's Ghost Story

We've had Padre Pio and a ghost, St. John Bosco and a ghost. For Halloween itself, let's get one where the famous person is himself the ghost!

At the time, J. B. Phillips was in a deep depression that threatened his life. He refused to leave his chambers, refused proper food or exercise, and seriously questioned the love and election of God [in his life]. It was in this state of detachment and depression, leading to his early death…that suddenly, a ruddy and glowing C. S. Lewis stood before him, entering his room through closed doors -- a “healthy Lewis, hearty and glowing” as Phillips was later to record.

In this vision, Lewis only spoke only one sentence to Phillips: ‘J.B., it’s not as hard as you think.’ One solitary sentence, the meaning of which is debated! But what is not debated is the effect of that sentence. It snapped Phillips out of his depression, and set him again following God. After Lewis spoke that cryptic sentence, he disappeared.

Phillips came out of his chambers only to find that Lewis had died moments before the appearance, miles away. He pondered this in his heart, with wonder, and never returned to his depression. Now, was this a case of God giving a detour of a soul on the way to heaven to a special friend, to save him? Who knows? But again, it is recorded evidence of the highest order, by persons of the highest order: Lewis and Phillips. It is a ghost story, a benevolent one, to all appearances – actually, not only benevolent, but redemptive [which I would take as an element of authenticity].

This story is found in a lot of places but I like this retelling which is from Thoughts of Loy.

Well Said: When Hatred is a Pleasure

Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one's first feeling, "Thank God, even they aren't quite so bad as that," or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible? If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally we shall insist on seeing everything — God and our friends and ourselves included — as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred.

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

This is at the end of a chapter about loving one's neighbor, even in the eventuality that the person is a real enemy. Lewis, of course, had Nazis freshly to mind. We have ISIS and the like to consider. He gives very helpful examples about how to come to grips with loving the sinner while hating the sin.

I hope, unlikely to come across a member of ISIS. I am, as we all are right now, very likely to come across someone who passionately supports a political candidate or opinion I despise. Keep that in mind and then reread the quote above.

Here is the key bit and one which I was shocked to realize I recognized in myself: "is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible?"

It is then that we realize, as Lewis puts it later, that "hatred [is] such a pleasure that to give it up is like giving up beer or tobacco."

It is that we must fight.

Well Said: Christianity and ordinary life

Before I became a Christian I do not think I fully realized that one's life after conversion would inevitably consist in doing most of the same things one had been doing before. One hopes in a new spirit, but still the same things.

C.S. Lewis, Weight of Glory

I never thought about that at all, but yeah. Life goes on, but in a new spirit.