Merry Christmas and 2016 Awaits

May the joy of Christmas be yours and may the New Year unfold for you in ways that confer marvelous blessings!  The Christmas Party at Stephen's was great and we developed a new schedule for the coming year.  I present it to you below.

C.S. Lewis Society of Harrisonburg
Program for 2016

Theme meetings are meetings in which each member comes with their thoughts and references on the theme of the meeting prepared to speak on what they have brought for perhaps ten minutes.  Depending on how motivated you are by the theme you can choose to bring handouts for the group to facilitate your sharing.

Focus meetings have a leader.  Generally you should plan to read the book or essay, etc. on which the meeting focuses.  The leader should plan to send a hand out around with discussion and questions at least a week before the meeting to help the members in their preparation.

Meetings are generally the second Thursday in each month at 7:30 p.m. at the Harrisonburg Barnes and Noble.  Some members like to eat dinner at Panera's before the meeting.

SCHEDULE

January 14:  Theme Meeting:  Humor In C.S. Lewis

February 11: Focus Meeting:  "Pilgrim's Regress" led by Elizabeth

March 10: Focus Meeting: "Miracles" led by Jane

April 14: Theme Meeting:  Lewis as Irish/ Lewis as English

May 12: Focus Meeting: "Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius led by Iain

June 9: Focus Meeting: "The Discarded Image" led by Peggy

July 14: Focus Meeting:  "Out of the Silent Planet" led by Daniel

August 11: Focus Meeting:  "Perelandra" led by Hannah

September 8: Focus Meeting:  "That Hideous Strength" led by Ray

October 13:  Theme Meeting: Spiritualism Lewis and the Inklings (any source)

November 10: Focus Meeting: Lewis' Diary "All My Road Before Me" led by Jessica

December  TBD Christmas Planning Meeting (Discussion Topic At Any Meeting)

The Space Trilogy For Kindle

The Space Trilogy For Kindle for $3.99  Hard to beat this price for the Space Trilogy.

Meanwhile we're meeting on December 21st at Stephen's new digs in Staunton to have the annual Christmas party and discuss plans for the coming year.  I hope everyone can make it.  You can email Stephen at this address:  clemattlee@gmail.com

Thursday November 12th We'll Be Discussing Lewis's "On The Reading Of Old Books"

C. S. Lewis wrote a preface to St. Penelope's translation of St. Athanasius's work "On the Incarnation."  This became the short four and a half page essay we know today as "On the Reading of Old Books."  You can find the essay HERE  Our meeting will be a theme meeting on the essay.  A Kindle edition of Sr. Penelope's translation can be found at Amazon for $1.00 HERE  

Please join us at 7:30 p.m. on November 12th for a lively discussion.  We;ll be meeting in December to discuss our schedule for next year and discuss how what to read and discuss in 2016.

SCHEDULE

November 12: Theme: the essay On the Reading of Old Books the introduction C.S. Lewis wrote to Sr. Penelope's translation of Athanasius: On the Incarnation available on the internet in its entirety (see above).  The introduction is four and a half pages long.  Come and share on either the introduction or Sr. Penelope's translation (5-10 min. or so)

December 21st a Monday in the tentative date of the Christmas Party although Stephen is planning to move down to Staunton should he find the house he desires.  I'm not sure of the status of that but we'll likely find out soon.

October 8th is a Theme Meeting: C.S. Lewis on Education

Theme meetings work well when everyone brings something to share on the theme.  October's theme is C.S. Lewis on Education.  As an Oxford Fellow Lewis had lots of ideas about education.  You can find some of them expressed in his letters.  CSL, the Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society rolled into my mailbox the other day and has a review of a fairly recent book by Lewis with, hard to believe, new material gathered together by Walter Hooper.  The book is titled Image and Imagination and I'm sure you can find it at the Barnes and Noble site or the Amazon site on-line.  The review by Linda Bridges in CSL indicates that it has lots of material on education so that's a possible source.  I've discovered that you can search books on your ebook reader, Nook, or Kindle or whatever and if you have the third volume of Lewis's letters you'd likely find lots of material there.  There is also the Quotable Lewis which probably has some stuff.  So dig up some things to talk about and come to the meeting on October 8th.

SCHEDULE FOR REMAINDER OF THE YEAR

October 8: Theme: C.S. Lewis on Education (any Lewis source: share 5-10 minutes)

November 12: Theme: the essay On the Reading of Old Books the introduction C.S. Lewis wrote to Sr. Penelope's translation of Athanasius: On the Incarnation available on the internet in its entirety at http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/ath-inc.htm  The introduction is five pages long.  Come and share on either the introduction or Sr. Penelope's translation (5-10 min. or so)

December 21st a Monday in the tentative date of the Christmas Party although Stephen is planning to move down to Staunton should he find the house he desires.  I'm not sure of the status of that but we'll likely find out soon.

September 10th Will Be Stephen Leading Us In Discussion of "Surprised By Joy"

Fall is soon upon us but just before it arrives we will be having our C. S. Lewis Society of Harrisonburg meeting on September 10th at the Barnes and Noble in Harrisonburg at 7:30 p.m. Dr. Stephen Chappell will be our discussion leader.

Surprised By Joy is C.S. Lewis's autobiography which describes his own personal journey and introduces us to a number of people where were influential in his life. It's a must read for those who love Lewis and want to learn more about his life. Come and join us for a visit with Lewis as we discuss Surprised By Joy.

Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis

SEE HERE  The first full biography of Joy Davidman brings her out from C. S. Lewis’s shadow, where she has long been hidden, to reveal a powerful writer and thinker.

Joy Davidman is known, if she is known at all, as the wife of C. S. Lewis. Their marriage was immortalized in the film Shadowlands and Lewis’s memoir, A Grief Observed.

August 13th Our Theme is C.S. Lewis And Free Will

 This is a little video about Lewis and Free Will.

August 13: Theme: C.S. Lewis on Free Will (any Lewis source: share 5-10 minutes)

I thought this might be a challenging theme until I looked into my Quotable C.S. Lewis and found scads of quotes relative to free will.  So don't be too daunted by the task.  Some ideas would be to check the Quotable Lewis volume, google "C.S. Lewis and free will" and there are numerous quotes and even a youtube video https://youtu.be/rH2DEOxvaWk  is interesting.  I also posted the theme on SpareOom to see what the Lewisians there might say about it.  I'll bring some of their comments to the meeting.

Our future schedule look like:

September 10: Stephen will be our discussion leader for Surprised by Joy

October 8: Theme: C.S. Lewis on Education (any Lewis source: share 5-10 minutes)

November 12: Theme: the essay On the Reading of Old Books the introduction C.S. Lewis wrote to Sr. Penelope's translation of Athanasius: On the Incarnation available on the internet in its entirety at http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/ath-inc.htm  The introduction is five pages long.  Come and share on either the introduction or Sr. Penelope's translation (5-10 min. or so)

December TBD: Christmas Planning Party: Stephen has volunteered to host again. How wonderful is that?  I don't see how he can outdo himself, but I'm up to see him try.

July 9th We Return To Narnia

July 9th is a theme meeting and our theme: "What is your favorite book from the Chronicles of Narnia (share for 5-10 minutes)"  The reasons for a selection might be many including the story, your favorite characters, and no doubt we'll find time to debate what order the Chronicles should be read in.  For those who have never heard about it there are: Publication Order, Chronological Order In Narnia Time, Order In Which They Were Actually Written.  Our schedule for the rest of the year is below. 

August 13: Theme: C.S. Lewis on Free Will (any Lewis source: share 5-10 minutes)

September 10: Stephen will be our discussion leader for Surprised by Joy

October 8: Theme: C.S. Lewis on Education (any Lewis source: share 5-10 minutes)

November 12: Theme: the essay On the Reading of Old Books the introduction C.S. Lewis wrote to Sr. Penelope's translation of Athanasius: On the Incarnation available on the internet in its entirety at http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/ath-inc.htm  The introduction is five pages long.  Come and share on either the introduction or Sr. Penelope's translation (5-10 min. or so)

December TBD: Christmas Planning Party: Stephen has volunteered to host again. How wonderful is that?  I don't see how he can outdo himself, but I'm up to see him try.

June 11th Will Soon Be Upon Us: How Did You Discover C.S. Lewis?

As the week begins you might reflect on how you first became interested in C.S. Lewis?  Come share your adventure with us on Thursday June 11th as we meet to discuss the appeal of C.S. Lewis.  Each of our stories is a unique experience.  Some of us are Narnians first, while others are Thulcandrians.  Still others may be Mere Christians, or discovered Greytown or Wormwood.  Speaking of Greytown I stumbled upon https://www.cslewis.com/blog/the-grey-town-community/ which might interest some of you.

Come join us.  The meeting begins at 7:30 P.M. and ends fairly promptly at 9:00 P.M.   Bring a friend and we can all enjoy the conviviality of sharing our enthusiasm for C.S. Lewis

What Drew You To C.S. Lewis? Theme for June 11th

We had a great theme meeting last evening on our favorite essay's from "God In The Dock". Our turnout was low but that meant everyone had lots of time to contribute discussion and observations about their favorite essays. I read a brief paragraph from a post by Lois Westerlund on SpareOom, a Yahoo Group I moderate. I had shared that we were having a theme meeting on this topic and lots of SpareOomians offered their favorite essays. Lois went a bit further sending a post to the group about two of hers. I read what she said about "The Trouble With X" --- see below

The trouble with "X". "X" is the person in our lives who makes our life so much harder than it would have to be. It is no use trying to talk to such a person--it won't do any good. Their pride or envy or greed or indifference or laziness is a constant irritation to us. All this God sees. But God's picture is bigger--he sees us in the picture, and we are somebody else's "X"--we, too, have a fatal flaw which we are blind to. He says more in this essay but that is the vivid image that took hold of me and has never let go. --- Lois

Great meeting. Next time our meeting will be a theme meeting as well and the theme will be:

What drew you to C.S. Lewis? (share for 5-10 minutes) See you then! sunglasses emoticon

May 14th Our Theme Is: Share Your Favorite Essay From "God In The Dock"

There are almost forty essays in God In The Dock and they're all first rate. So it might be an adventure just picking the one you'd like to share on. Our meeting is a theme meeting so we don't really have a discussion leader. Just come planning to chat for five or ten minutes about your favorite essay from this great collection. A little discussion might reasonably follow. What made you pick that particular essay? What did you really like about it? Is there anything you wish Lewis had handled a little differently?  Below is our schedule for the rest of the year.

SCHEDULE

May 14: Theme: Your favorite essay from God In The Dock (pick one and give us 5-10 minutes on why it is your favorite)

June 11: Theme:  What drew you to C.S. Lewis? (share for 5-10 minutes)

July 9: Theme:  What is your favorite book from the Chronicles of Narnia (share for 5-10 minutes)

August 13: Theme: C.S. Lewis on Free Will (any Lewis source: share 5-10 minutes)

September 10: Stephen will be our discussion leader for Surprised by Joy

October 8: Theme: C.S. Lewis on Education (any Lewis source: share 5-10 minutes)

November 12: Theme: the essay On the Reading of Old Books the introduction C.S. Lewis wrote to Sr. Penelope's translation of Athanasius: On the Incarnation available on the internet in its entirety at http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/ath-inc.htm  The introduction is five pages long.  Come and share on either the introduction or Sr. Penelope's translation (5-10 min. or so)

December TBD: Christmas Planning Party: Stephen has volunteered to host again. How wonderful is that?  I don't see how he can outdo himself, but I'm up to see him try.

April 9th "When I Was A Child I Read Books" Led By Peggy

CS Lewis Society meeting, April 9, 2015    Leader Peggy Printz

Discussion on When I Was a Child I Read Books  by Marilynne Robinson

Intro:  This book was first mentioned last year in the context of discussing one of Lewis’ essays.  An attendee was reading this book of essays and commented that they seemed as if they could have been written by Lewis.  Having read and loved her fiction, I was happy to suggest this book for our group. My assumption that she had been influenced by Lewis has not been confirmed, but it is clear that both have been deeply influenced by the same sources (classical literature and the Bible) and they have had many similar passions and interests.

Marilynne Robinson grew up in Idaho, where she “looked to Galilee for meaning and to Spokane for orthodonture.”  She now lives in Iowa and teaches as the renowned Iowa writer’s workshop.  She has been writer-in-residence, visiting professor, and/or speaker at numerous schools including the University of Kent, Yale, Amherst and Oxford.  She has received many awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Gilead and the Orange Prize for Fiction (a British award) for Home.  

In these essays, Robinson champions Christianity, the Old Testament, Moses, old American hymns, Charles Finney, Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, liberal education, and real science (that which keeps an open mind, a sense of wonder and a sense of mystery.)  She takes on Richard Dawkins and other of the “new atheists” , the current polarized and charged political and social climate in America, “tight-fisted Christians”, the continued dumbing-down of American education that focuses on preparing drones for the work force at the expense of the kind of liberal education that helped guide our founding fathers.

Questions:

1.      Obviously, Marilynne Robinson has many strongly held opinions.  Which of her arguments are most  persuasive?  least persuasive?  Are some you  thought-provoking but not persuasive?

2.      Do you have a favorite essay in this collection?  A favorite quote?  Least favorite essay?

3.      Can you imagine a conversation between Robinson and Lewis and/or any of the other Inklings?

4.      Robinson has said that Christianity’s noisiest critics have not done their homework.  What do you think she means by this?

5.      If you also read any of Robinson’s fiction, how do they compare?  (stylistically, thematically, etc.)

Note:  if you have not yet acquired the book, the second chapter can be read on-line at www.billmoyers.com/2014/10/19/child-read-books/  also an interview at that link.

 

April 9th Peggy Is Our Discussion Leader For "When I Was A Child I Read Books"

Peggy proposed Marilynne Robinson's book of essays, When I Was a Child I Read Books, and will lead us in our discussion on April 9th.  As usual I looked on-line for some discussion of the book and found:   

In this lucid but impassioned collection, Robinson expands with renewed vigor the themes that have preoccupied her work. When I Was a Child I Read Books tackles the charged political and social climate in this country, the deeply embedded role of generosity in Christian faith, and the nature of individualism and the myth of the American West. 

That's just one very brief summary.  So check out this book of essays and pick a few that you really liked so you can share your discoveries and insights with the rest of us when you come to the meeting on April 9th at the Harrisonburg Barnes and Noble from 7:30 p.m. to around 9:00 p.m.

Going Forward Through 2015 Here Is Our Schedule

The Balance of the Schedule for 2015

April 9: Peggy will be our discussion leader for When I Was a Child I Read Books: Essays by Marilynne Robinson.

May 14: Theme: Your favorite essay from God In The Dock (pick one and give us 5-10 minutes on why it is your favorite)

June 11: Theme:  What drew you to C.S. Lewis? (share for 5-10 minutes)

July 9: Theme:  What is your favorite book from the Chronicles of Narnia (share for 5-10 minutes)

August 13: Theme: C.S. Lewis on Free Will (any Lewis source: share 5-10 minutes)

September 10: Stephen will be our discussion leader for Surprised by Joy

October 8: Theme: C.S. Lewis on Education (any Lewis source: share 5-10 minutes)

November 12: Theme: the essay On the Reading of Old Books the introduction C.S. Lewis wrote to Sr. Penelope's translation of Athanasius: On the Incarnation available on the internet in its entirety at http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/ath-inc.htm  The introduction is five pages long.  Come and share on either the introduction or Sr. Penelope's translation (5-10 min. or so)

December TBD: Christmas Planning Party: Stephen has volunteered to host again.  How wonderful is that?  I don't see how he can outdo himself, but I'm up to see him try.

March 12th We'll Be Talking About "As One Devil To Another"

March 12: Ray will be our discussion leader on Richard Platt's As One Devil To Another a fiendish correspondence in the tradition of C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. Richard Platt has a website on the book which you can find HERE.  We'll be running this like an ordinary meeting with discussion questions which I'll send around.  Platt has a pdf file on his site with a Discussion Guide and there's even a Facebook page for the book.

Social media is taking over the planet, which is a little scary.  HERE is the Facebook page.  I think the link will work.  It should be a fun meeting.

I thought it would be good to mention that the Society has a Facebook page as well HERE and by all means come and join.  Conversations are easier in that environment if you like on-line banter.

Also our first theme meeting: C.S. Lewis on "sin" went very well.  Iain came and moderated the chaos but it was a fascinating meeting as everyone chimed in with their particular 'finds' on C.S. Lewis' observations about sin.  Lewis himself always thought his besetting sin was pride, at least he said that several times to his lifelong friend Arthur Grieves in their correspondence.  The discussion rambled far and wide over the entire Lewis canon visiting the space trilogy, Narnia, and even The Abolition of Man.  It was a great meeting.  So Theme Meetings got off to a wonderful start.

February 12th Will Be Our First THEME Meeting: C.S. Lewis on Sin!

February 12: Theme:  C.S. Lewis on Sin (any Lewis source: come and share 5-10 minutes)

The idea of a "theme" meeting motivates many of our meetings scheduled for 2015.  Any Lewis source that gives a sense of C.S. Lewis on "Sin" is fine.  Each person will be expected to take 5-10 minutes to talk on their particular discoveries or findings on the topic.

Much of Lewis seems likely to apply including:

1. The Screwtape Letters
2. The Great Divorce
3. That Hideous Strength
4. Material drawn from Narnia
5. The Problem of Pain
6. Miracles
7. Mere Christianity, and
8. The Abolition of Man ...

...
and those are just for starters.  You may have some ideas based on Inklings as well or secondary sources who wrote about Lewis or little nuggets from Lewis's letters.  Whatever it is bring it along to talk about.  Hopefully the insights will spark more conversation and we'll have some robust and interesting discussions

Discussion Questions for "A Wrinkle In Time"

A Wrinkle In Time our book for January 8th Elizabeth our Discussion Leader

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1918-2007)

Madeleine was born in New York City, at age 12 moved to the French Alps, but went to boarding school in England. Her high school years were spent back in the U.S.  She went to Smith College and graduated with honors. She married Hugh Franklin, best known for his role of Dr. Charles Tyler in All My Children.

A Wrinkle in Time was rejected by 26 publishers before it was published.  It won the 1963 Newbery Award and has has been in continuous print ever since.

Questions:

1. What word or words would you use to describe the theme of A Wrinkle in Time? Does this match any of the themes in Lewis’s Space Trilogy?
2. Does Auntie Beast play the same role as the Oyéresu? How are they the same or different?
3. What do you think of the three “gifts” given to the children in the chapter “The Happy Medium”.  What was the role of Meg’s faults?
4. What is the role of Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which?  What did they used to be?  
5. Does the section of the book dealing with the journey to Camazotz remind you of any of Lewis’s books?
6. The people on the planet Camazotz have no crime, no responsibility, and no decisions to make. What is so wrong with their society?
7. What was Meg’s expectation as to what would happen when she found her father?
8. How do #6 and #7 relate to Meg’s anger with her father?
9. Does this relate to our own expectations of our Heavenly Father and his expectations of us?
10. What is the struggle the children have to wage to not fall into the power of IT?  How are those same choices and struggles manifested in society and in history?
11. Why is Charles Wallace the key?  What got him into the power of IT? What had to change before he could be released and why was Meg the one who had to do it?
12. Questions of trust keep coming up in both Wrinkle in Time and Lewis’s  books.  In the books, and in our lives we have to decide who and what to trust and what not to trust.  How do the characters (and we) decide who to trust and who is not trustworthy?   How do we keep our moral compass?
13. Aunt Beast talks about the “help” we get in the fight against the dark.  What do you think are some of the helps she was referring to, and what are the helps you have?