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When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else—something it never entered your head to conceive—comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.”

–C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“The people who keep on asking if they can’t lead a decent life without Christ, don’t know what life is about; if they did they would know that ’a decent life’ is mere machinery compared with the thing we men are really made for. Morality is indispensable; but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which calls us to be gods, intends for us something in which morality will be swallowed up. We are to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to disappear–the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: a real Man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy.”

 

C.S. Lewis, Man or Rabbit?

 

This stripping off of the flesh is precisely what happened to Eustace during an encounter with Aslan in The Voyager of the Dawn Treader, one of the Narnia books.

First entry! It should be very profound, an introduction to who I am. I have been meaning to do this for a while, but the technology kind of threw me. Okay, that makes me sound like a moron, which is not a very good introduction.

Today was Labor Day, which everyone knows is the end of summer. Last night, Brian and I went on a motorcycle ride, up to Conception Abbey. I can’t believe I’ve never seen it before. It was dark when we got back and we were cold. We were putting the bike in the garage when Gary, our next door neighbor, came in and told us Philip was up at the A’s and that they had called the sheriff because there was a guy who has attended the church who has mental issues parked out in front of our house spray painting his car–they were all walking and he asked them if this was where the pastor lived. He left just before we arrived, and the sheriff arrived a little later. Nothing happened, but we all ended up at A’s eating leftover lasagna. I’m sure some people would be very surprised to learn some of the things you sometimes putup with in the ministry. This morning we found ared “X” had been painted on the street in front of our driveway. We believe there are angels assigned to our house and our kids and our stuff and ourselves!

I walked 4 miles withVickie this morning, then when I came in, Brian said, “Why didn’t you ask me to walk with you?”He was grinning, knowing that I didn’t ask him because I ask all the time, and he always declines. So I said, “I’ll walk with you!” and went ou t and walked another 4 miles. My thighs are tired tonight. Good!

Then I finalized the purchase of my new washer and dryer which is blue, extremely blue! I’m stepping out! I made a trip to the paint store and picked out some new paint for the walls. I’ve been putting this whole thing off for way too long–the agitator is barely moving in the machine, and I bought the dryer used over 20 years ago from someone who bought it used! Like the children of Israel whose shoes didn’t wear out–have you ever thought how much you would hate wearing the same pair of shoes for forty years.

So now I’ve begun….and getting started is always the hardest thing.