Mysteriously Moved

In addition to this day being Thanksgiving and the 55th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, it is also the 55th anniversary of the death of one of my favorite writers, C.S. Lewis. Lewis died without much memorial fanfair in the shadow of a horrific American tragedy. Yet he is beloved and venerated by so many. He is the author of some of my most favorite books: Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicle of Narnia, to name a few.

Recently, I have been listening to an audio biography about Lewis. About two days ago I came to the part where Lewis talks about his conversion to Christianity. He was a vocal atheist calling Christianity a "myth." He was introduced to Christianity slowly through the planting of many seeds by people around him, but it was a late night walk with J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson on Sept. 20, 1931, that pretty much sealed the deal. They talked of all manor of subjects way past midnight, spending a good bit of time on Christianity. Lewis wrote to a friend after that stroll on Addison's Walk at Oxford University that he was "mysteriously moved" by the idea of God "sacrificing himself to himself."

There was something about that statement that made me stop, rewind and listen again. This is not new information for me by any means, but the phrasing was sweetly simplistic and accurate. The idea of God in heaven being worshiped by countless sacrifices over thousands of years - which never fully atoned for His creation's disobedience - then coming to the conclusion that He must sacrifice Himself on our behalves is overwhelming. An all encompassing sacrifice so that we would never again need to atone: Christ has done it all. Of course, such a revelation would be profound for Lewis. As a result of this realization (and his acceptance of Christ into his life nine days later), we are the grateful recipients of some of the best books of the last century and some profound theology. Praise God for the persistence of Lewis' friends and God's unwavering patience for his lost children.

This is why I never give up praying for and sharing the Good  News of Jesus Christ through words and love to the people in my life who have not accepted Him as Savior. While it can seem a daunting task when it seems God's mercy is falling on deaf ears, hearing about stories like Lewis' is inspirational and encouraging. We can strive on in hope that those we love will one day be "mysteriously moved" by something which brings them to a point of reverence, repentance and acceptance. The end result is so worth it and changes the world time and time again.

I excitedly await the time those on my prayer list come to the realization that our Awesome God, who sacrificed Himself to Himself, loves them that much. What a day of rejoicing that will be. Just as the very day C.S. Lewis walked through the gates of Heaven to meet face-to-face the God who persistently pursued him. Glory to Him!

Divine Providence?

"I see a blog coming out of this," my husband said as we were walking. I had just been sharing my thoughts on my visit to see our daughter in Rhode Island, explaining my shock at the lack of outwardly expressed Christianity in Providence. Our daughter has lived there for a year and has had trouble finding a church home, thus has no spiritual support group or accountability. There are no FM Christian radio stations in Providence. When I asked for a recommendation for a good church, one woman said, "There's a pretty cathedral down the street." Seriously? I didn't want pretty. I wanted Jesus.

I'm not saying Jesus wasn't in Providence. I'm just saying in my week there, I didn't see Him in the faces and places.

It made me long for home, where I was surrounded by Christian friends, could listen to Christian music whenever I wanted, could worship with my church family and didn't get sideways glances and raised eyebrows from folks who were offended by my "Exalt His Name" T-shirt. It was the strangest place I have ever been to faith-wise. And my heart ached for my daughter. Ayla epitomizes the Phil 2:15 verse which tells us to "shine like stars in the universe," and I felt because of her location, that her star was shining less brightly. It was a sad gray world (of course it was cloudy most of the time, so that didn't help). I felt I was given a tiny glimpse at what the endtimes will look like when people squelch faith. It is one of the emptiest feelings in the world. And my daughter is there all the time, every day in this tiny area of the country that Satan seems to have built a wall around. I told my husband, "Satan doesn't have to work hard here at all. He's got it taken care of already."

Yet, it's probably the best mission field I've ever been to. Countless souls for Ayla to touch in Jesus name, sharing about God's love and mercy in salvation through His Son.

While visiting with a group of Ayla's co-workers, one fellow commented how much he liked my shiny gold boatshoes. He said, "I enjoy reading your Facebook statuses because you put things on there like, 'Thank you, Jesus, for my gold shiny shoes,' and you mean it." I nodded my head and said, "I certainly do" and dropped the conversation. I missed an opportunity there to share more about Jesus with this young man. I only hope Ayla is given the chance to share more with him since I dropped the ball.

I have a friend named Cindy who constantly wears Christian T-shirts. Before I met her, I had a few, but taking a cue from her, I've upped my wardrobe of Christian T's for testimony purposes. When you see me, I want you to see Jesus. I want it to inspire others to dig into the Bible, to ask me questions about my faith and bring souls closer to Him. I wish I'd have brought more of those T-shirts to Providence to wear.

Knowing Ayla is not receiving much in the way of Christian feeding, I am going to do all in my power to be sure she is getting Jesus. My efforts will be limited to reminder calls for devotions, sending Christian CDs, encouraging Bible reading, sending her study materials, jotting down the occasional Bible verse on the back of an envelope and praying for and with her. And perhaps I will get her several Christian T-shirts to wear around town. Providence may not be showing any outward signs of Jesus to Ayla, but I'm praying Ayla will show outward signs of Jesus to Providence.

"Divine providence" is defined as God's activity in this world ... hoping I see more of that in the capital city named for it.