“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never met a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is with immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.”
- C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory.
What do you all think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
i must say it wasn't an easy passage to digest. it was like a mini essay written on the virtue of loving thy neighbour as thyself. but it's a pretty cool passage (:
then again, how much of ourselves are we wiling to sacrifice to love our neighbour?
hmm so we are more than mere mortal!
yup, everyone will rise again: some to live forever in the glorious beautiful presence of God, and others to eternal judgement. (Matt 25:31ff; John 5:25-29)
These are the "two destinations" referred to in the quote.
And this fact ought to inform and direct our relationships with one another. To take one another seriously (not solemnly but seriously--there's a difference!) and to love! Really love (Rom 12:3) Without mere tolerance or indulgence which is just a parody of love
that was profound taupok... "mere tolerance and indulgence a parody of love". never saw it that way. food for thought.. taupok, you're the coolest ever. HAHA :D
Post a Comment