Written by Jim Thomas
|
24 May 2010
Posted in
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How would C. S. Lewis interpret the themes of LOST?
I know I'm speculating but...
1. We know Lewis loved fantasy. We know he was a master at weaving multi-layer, fictional plots with theological analogies.
2. IF he would have made comment on the themes of LOST, my guess is that he would focus on the human longings evident in the storyline.
3. Among them might be: Our need for redemption. Wondering if we can really be forgiven. Longing for deep, abiding, and faithful love. Searching for something more than this world has to offer. Wondering if we have an eternal destiny or, if life just ends, etc etc.
4. Perhaps it is best to let Lewis (ironically, aka 'Jack') speak for himself. See if you think these quotes apply:
“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” -- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“Our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation.” --C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, from They Asked for a Paper
“Our whole being by its very nature is one vast need; incomplete, preparatory, empty yet cluttered, crying out for Him who can untie things that are now knotted together and tie up things that are still dangling loose.” – C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
“We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves.” – C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
“What we call asking God’s forgiveness very often really consists in asking God to accept our excuses...What we have got to take to him is the inexcusable bit, the sin... As regards my own sins it is a safe bet (though not a certainty) that the excuses are not really so good as I think: as regards other men’s sins against me it is a safe bet (though not a certainty) that the excuses are better than I think.”--C.S. Lewis from The Weight of Glory
“The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only comes through them, and what came through them was longing. These things- the beauty, the memory of our own past- are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have not visited.”-- C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
“An ‘impersonal God’ – well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads – better still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap – best of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband – that is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (‘Mans’ search for God!’) suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had FOUND us!” C. S. Lewis, Miracles
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