Douglas Gresham on C.S. Lewis, Jesus, and Love

This is, to me, a near-perfect expression of what the Christian life should be. Perhaps it's because Mr. Gresham and I were formed in our intellectual and spiritual lives by the same man, though for me of course it was only through his books.

I note with kind amusement that, in the beginning of the interview, he says he doesn't like the term "falling in love" and disparages romantic notions; but then pay attention when he talks about meeting his wife. I understand, of course, what he's trying to say: no doubt, when he speaks of falling in love and the romantic view, he's thinking of his own story, and how his father "fell in love" with another woman and divorced his mother. And he's right, that is not real love: real love is something different (or I would say something more) than the world's notion of romantic love--it's just a matter of terminology.

He says that one of the most important things he learned from "Jack" (C.S. Lewis) is that real Christianity is shown and taught by life and example, not by preaching. And I think that's the most important thing that I've learned from him as well. As I've said before: how many more people have come to know the Love of God through Aslan and Narnia than through even the most successful preacher--say Billy Graham?

I'm very pleased to learn that the movie Shadowlands, which I otherwise dearly love, got the part wrong about his mother's death and prayer. In the movie, Jack and Douglas talk about praying to save a loved one from death, and agree, "It doesn't work." I've always been disappointed in that scene, because it is axiomatically wrong: prayer does work (though granted we're not always going to get what we want--sometimes the answer is that God's will is something different). But according to Douglas, that scene is factually wrong as well. The true story is so much more powerful and beautiful. I don't know why they changed it. My only guess is that it reflects the beliefs of the filmmaker, which can't allow for the possibility of the true version.

Here, if you like the first one, is the other half of the story: his wife, Merrie. Also beautiful, both the story and the woman. And there are a few more comments from Douglas, on his love for her, which are very touching.