C. S. Lewis is toward the top of my list of beloved authors. Authors these days seem to be stereotyped as someone who writes a certain kind of book. Or authors do not have the ability to write differently. Or whatever reason there may be why they do not stretch out and write in a different genre. Jack (the name Lewis went by among his friends) wrote fiction, nonfiction, children’s stories, science fiction, philosophy, theology, and was a regular letter writer to his friends. He also did a retelling of a Greek story called Till We Have Faces. This writing is not to talk about Jack specifically, but something he wrote in Till We Have Faces.  It would side track this writing too much to summarize 12 chapters of story, but I believe the text stands on it’s own. In chapter twelve:

“I perceived now that there is a love deeper than theirs who seek only the happiness of their beloved. Would a father see his daughter happy as a whore? Would a woman see her lover happy as a coward?”

People just want to be happy, right? What if that happiness came as a whore or coward? It is possible to find contentment in doing nothing. It is possible to slide through life living a lifestyle that effects other people in a negative way. I know living as a whore is quite extreme, but we have all been a coward at some point in our lives. We have been afraid to speak up when it was needed. We have taken a step backward when we needed and others needed us to take a step forward. What father would let their daughter run into the street with the traffic without running after her and grabbing her before she could get smashed under rubber and metal? She was happy and having a good time while running into that street. Life is not just about being happy.

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The following text is from a speech that Dietrich Bonhoeffer gave at Fano, Denmark in August 1934. I hope the heart of it strikes you like it did me.

There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared, it is itself the great venture, and can never be safe. Peace is the opposite of security. To demand guarantees is to mistrust, and this mistrust in turn brings forth war. To look for guarantees is to want to protect oneself. Peace means giving oneself completely to God’s commandment, wanting no security, but in faith and obedience laying down the destiny of the nations in the hand of Almighty God, not trying to direct it for selfish purposes. Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won when the way leads to the cross.

“Facebook is like an IQ test no one is passing.” – Mark Driscoll

“When God is in the picture, as he indeed is, then there is more in view than just this present life.” – Martin Luther

“For God nowhere says that your good work should be your Saviour.” – Martin Luther

“To run free is not to be disconnected or isolated. It is a commitment to live a life of reflection and self-awareness.” – Erwin McManus

“It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t seek all the credit. I find nothing is really one person’s idea.” -Dan Tully

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” – Jesus (John 14:15)

“Plan on being misunderstood, repeat yourself. When in doubt, repeat yourself.” – Seth Godin

“Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not to suffer.” – Niccolo Machiavelli

“Every time we choose safety we reinforce fear.” – Cheri Huber

“Television allows us to be entertained in our living rooms by people we’d never permit inside our homes.” – David Frost

“When people fear losing an argument due to weak logic or incompetence, they begin to attack you personally with full emotion.” – Rick Warren

“It is written, ‘Man should not live on bread alone.’” – Matthew 4:4

“Someone who gets better whenever he fails will always outperform someone who responds to failure by getting worse. This isn’t something in your DNA, it’s something you can learn or unlearn.” – Seth Godin

“Borrower is slave to the lender. That’s the trick of coveting. Coveting ends in slavery. Someone owns your dollars, someone owns your days. Because you worshiped someone or something other than God.” – Mark Driscoll

“Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.” – Francis Chan in Crazy Love p.69

“In everything I’ve done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You’ll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, ‘You’re far happier giving than getting.” – Acts 20:35 (The Message)

“Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.” – Proverbs 10:17

“God, it’s not about You being a part of my story, it’s about me being a part of yours.” – Andy Stanley

“Anytime you can say ______ style, it has ceased to be art and started to be a process.” – Seth Godin in Linchpin

“If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains however improbable must be the truth.” – Spock in Star Trek (2009)

“Nothing happens until someone starts dreaming.” – Rick Warren

“These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” – Isaiah 29:13 NIV

“Your soul knows it was created for eternity and you can lose eternity if all you do is live for this moment.” – Erwin McManus

“Good ideas are what’s left after you cross out all the bad ideas.” – Seth Godin

“You only believe the part of the Bible that you actually do.” – Rick Warren

“Society has changed us from a little boy that wants to change the world to a man who tries to make a living.” – Sean Seay

“Jesus said, I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirst no more, ever.” – John 6:35 (The Message)

“Our identity precedes our actions. Our actions do not precede our identity. Who we are (in Christ) leads to what we do.” – Scott Thomas via Twitter

“Identity determines activity.” – Mark Driscoll

“It’s not about making your mark. It’s about being in a position where God can make His mark through you.” – Andy Stanley

“The perfect time never arrives. You’re always too young or old or busy or broke or something else. If you constantly fret about timing things perfectly, they’ll never happen.” – book Rework p.41

“Jesus said ‘I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirst no more, ever.’” – John 6:35 (The Message)

“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” – Luke 6:26 (ESV)

The subject of reading is a central and essential part of my life. Instead of hopping on a soap box about it, I am going to give a famous quote about reading and respond to it.

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“There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is resistance.” – Steven Pressfield

“Casting yourself as a victim is the antithesis of doing your work.” – Steven Pressfield

“Those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.” – Steven Pressfield

“The professional tackles the project that will make him stretch. He takes on the assignment that will bear him into uncharted waters, compel him to explore unconscious parts of himself.” – Steven Pressfield

“School, advertising, the entire materialist culture drills us from birth to define ourselves by others’ opinions.” – Steven Pressfield

“Many people in the United States purchase one or fewer books every year. Many of those people have seen every single episode of American Idol. There is clearly a correlation here.” – Seth Godin

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer hard.” – Proverbs 13:20 ESV