Running on Empty
Illustration
Stories
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself. . . (vv. 5-7)
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was world famous during his lifetime, respected, adored, even treated with awe by his legions of admirers. However, he didn’t look upon himself as anything special. Indeed, his friends were frustrated by his lack of protective coloration, his openness to being taken advantage of, and his lack of care when it came to protecting his privacy and his finances.
Born Clive Staples Lewis, at the age of two, he pointed at his chest with his thumb and announced, “He is Jacksie.” He was known ever afterwards to his friends and associates simply as Jack.
An Irishman who was educated in English boarding schools, he distinguished himself as an academic, writing several tomes that are still recognized as classics in the field. His lectures were popular and engaging, but he wasn’t respected among some of his academic colleagues because instead of writing turgid prose he wrote in a familiar and easily accessible style. He also wrote for the general public.
Like many of his generation, he was immersed in the horrors of the First World War, and like far fewer of that generation, he was fortunate enough to survive. It is known that he caused an entire German unit to surrender to him through sheer bluff and bluster. Despite his heroism, he never talked about his war record, and indeed avoided bragging and anything else that might have drawn attention to himself.
The loss of his mother at an early age, the agnostic atmosphere in which he swam during his academic years, and the horrors of World War 1 may have all contributed to his embrace of atheism. His ambition was to become known as a poet, and he was disappointed when his collection “Spirits in Bondage,” failed to make much of an impact, but he plugged along.
However, several factors, including an odd-couple friendship with the young J.R.R. Tolkien, not only led to his return to Christianity, but an embrace so thorough that his talent for speaking and writing clearly helped him become the greatest popularizer of the Christian faith, having a deep impact on evangelists, preachers, writers, speakers, and most of all, ordinary believers far beyond his lifetime.
During the Second World War, he gave a series of what he called “Broadcast Talks,” which were designed to help explain simply why Christianity, shorn of denominationalism and faction, was true, helpful, and essential. These broadcast talks were later collected into a book called “Mere Christianity,” which has never been out of print.
Lewis was a clubbable person, enjoying the company of his cronies, and gathering together people of like interests into any number of fellowships. These include the famous Inklings, where he and selected friends would read from works in progress and provide criticism, provided a major spur to Tolkien when it came to writing and publishing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. A challenge to Tolkien that the two of them ought to write the books they both enjoyed reading led to his writing his famous Space Trilogy. His love of children’s books and his desire for more of those kinds of books he enjoyed reading led to his writing, in swift order, The Chronicles of Narnia.
And despite his fame as a world-famous writer, he never considered his time his own. He felt it was his duty to answer every letter that came his way, regardless of that person’s station or age. His letters to children are not condescending, but accepting and encouraging.
And though his writing brought in royalties, he himself lived simply, considering himself poor. It aggravated his friends that he unquestioningly sent money to anyone who asked, because, he felt, it was better to be cheated by a charlatan than to risk not helping someone truly in need.
Not that he didn’t long for anonymity and peace. He once said that he loved getting sick because then he had an excuse to put all his obligations to the side, stay home, and read a book.
He once said that if one considered this world a luxury resort one was bound to be disappointed, but if one considered it more of a prison or reformatory, it wasn’t so bad.
Even his death went largely unnoticed, because he died on November 22, 1963, the same day as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Truly, he did not regard fame, celebrity, and money as something to be grasped and taken advantage of. He remained simply “Jack” to the end of his earthly pilgrimage.
C.S. Lewis would not have agreed with any comparison between Jesus and himself, but one can’t help but think of the words of the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, in the great Christ hymn, how Jesus, despite equality with God, did not consider this something to be grasped, but emptied himself….
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was world famous during his lifetime, respected, adored, even treated with awe by his legions of admirers. However, he didn’t look upon himself as anything special. Indeed, his friends were frustrated by his lack of protective coloration, his openness to being taken advantage of, and his lack of care when it came to protecting his privacy and his finances.
Born Clive Staples Lewis, at the age of two, he pointed at his chest with his thumb and announced, “He is Jacksie.” He was known ever afterwards to his friends and associates simply as Jack.
An Irishman who was educated in English boarding schools, he distinguished himself as an academic, writing several tomes that are still recognized as classics in the field. His lectures were popular and engaging, but he wasn’t respected among some of his academic colleagues because instead of writing turgid prose he wrote in a familiar and easily accessible style. He also wrote for the general public.
Like many of his generation, he was immersed in the horrors of the First World War, and like far fewer of that generation, he was fortunate enough to survive. It is known that he caused an entire German unit to surrender to him through sheer bluff and bluster. Despite his heroism, he never talked about his war record, and indeed avoided bragging and anything else that might have drawn attention to himself.
The loss of his mother at an early age, the agnostic atmosphere in which he swam during his academic years, and the horrors of World War 1 may have all contributed to his embrace of atheism. His ambition was to become known as a poet, and he was disappointed when his collection “Spirits in Bondage,” failed to make much of an impact, but he plugged along.
However, several factors, including an odd-couple friendship with the young J.R.R. Tolkien, not only led to his return to Christianity, but an embrace so thorough that his talent for speaking and writing clearly helped him become the greatest popularizer of the Christian faith, having a deep impact on evangelists, preachers, writers, speakers, and most of all, ordinary believers far beyond his lifetime.
During the Second World War, he gave a series of what he called “Broadcast Talks,” which were designed to help explain simply why Christianity, shorn of denominationalism and faction, was true, helpful, and essential. These broadcast talks were later collected into a book called “Mere Christianity,” which has never been out of print.
Lewis was a clubbable person, enjoying the company of his cronies, and gathering together people of like interests into any number of fellowships. These include the famous Inklings, where he and selected friends would read from works in progress and provide criticism, provided a major spur to Tolkien when it came to writing and publishing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. A challenge to Tolkien that the two of them ought to write the books they both enjoyed reading led to his writing his famous Space Trilogy. His love of children’s books and his desire for more of those kinds of books he enjoyed reading led to his writing, in swift order, The Chronicles of Narnia.
And despite his fame as a world-famous writer, he never considered his time his own. He felt it was his duty to answer every letter that came his way, regardless of that person’s station or age. His letters to children are not condescending, but accepting and encouraging.
And though his writing brought in royalties, he himself lived simply, considering himself poor. It aggravated his friends that he unquestioningly sent money to anyone who asked, because, he felt, it was better to be cheated by a charlatan than to risk not helping someone truly in need.
Not that he didn’t long for anonymity and peace. He once said that he loved getting sick because then he had an excuse to put all his obligations to the side, stay home, and read a book.
He once said that if one considered this world a luxury resort one was bound to be disappointed, but if one considered it more of a prison or reformatory, it wasn’t so bad.
Even his death went largely unnoticed, because he died on November 22, 1963, the same day as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Truly, he did not regard fame, celebrity, and money as something to be grasped and taken advantage of. He remained simply “Jack” to the end of his earthly pilgrimage.
C.S. Lewis would not have agreed with any comparison between Jesus and himself, but one can’t help but think of the words of the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, in the great Christ hymn, how Jesus, despite equality with God, did not consider this something to be grasped, but emptied himself….
