My Response to A Grief Observed (Ch. 1-2)

John and Mary Die.

At some point, everyone is going to die. At least, C.S. Lewis recognizes that there is a God and that a happy life is achievable in some fashion. I did not find Lewis' book depressing, it resonated with who I am. If I look back on the pages of my own journal, I have written similar things. Questioning God is something I actually value. He is so generous that he can be questioned and wrestled with. When Lewis was talking about the cruelty of God putting his son on the cross, I have thought that before. I am also removed from grief at this point in my life, and I know that God did not send his son to die for naught. He had him die for me. There is a time and a season for everything under the sun, as Ecclesiastes says.

Margaret Atwood's “Happy Endings” reminded me a bit of A Grief Observed. I think Atwood was being pretty cynical when she wrote that piece, yet Lewis was dealing with reality. He wrote from a place of experience. I am not saying that Atwood never experienced life, death, or grief, just that there is more to life than the scenarios that she represented. Lewis had a love greater than any happy ending. I don't think anyone can truly have a perfect happy ending. We are all sinners in the hands of an angry God as Jonathan Edwards said.

As I read Lewis' explanation of his feelings regarding H. being in God's hands, I have often thought the same thing. Are God's hands always loving? They are, but I don't think we see the whole picture of what God is doing. I think God only gives us a glimpse of the picture so that we have enough of it in order to have faith and hope. I don't think we could handle all of the reality of God's wonders unless we were no longer human. He is simply too wonderful to contain in human thought. Grief is something that I don't think we can understand no matter how hard we try. It's like Lewis said. We can't really feel someone else's pain even if we've had a very similar experience. Pain is different for everyone because everyone perceives things in their own way and through their own lense of life.