One of many reasons Lewis remains relevant for us is that he knew where to put stuff. (I would not have used the term ‘stuff’ in such an august publication as this, but by his own use, Lewis gave me permission.) For example, although he was a life-long dog lover, he warned that “…the one who makes a dog the center of their life loses, in the end, not only their human usefulness and dignity but even the proper pleasure of dog-keeping.” He knew where to put dogs in relation to higher claims on our love. There are FIRST things and there are SECOND things, and it is the challenge of becoming wise to be able to learn the difference and order our affections accordingly.
That brings us to the topic of our rascally emotions. Following the popular success of The Screwtape Letters in 1942 and for the next twenty years until his death, Lewis received thousands of letters, many of them asking for spiritual counsel. He felt it his duty to answer each one personally and thoroughly. Questions regarding our feelings were common. Here is a very short sample of his replies:
Don’t bother much about your feelings. When they are humble, loving, brave, give thanks for them: when they are conceited, selfish, cowardly, ask to have them altered. In neither case are they ‘you’, but your behavior.
Obedience is the key to all doors: feelings come (or don’t come) and go as God pleases. We can’t produce them at will and mustn’t try.
It’s a great joy to be able to ‘feel’ God’s love as a reality, and we must give thanks for it and use it. But you must be prepared for the feeling dying away again, for feelings are by nature impermanent. The important thing is to continue to believe when the feeling is absent; and these periods do quite as much for us as when the feeling is present.
On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer thing to think about than our love for Him. Nobody can always have devout feelings: and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about. Christian Love, either towards God or towards others, is an affair of the will. If we are trying to do His will we are obeying the commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God.” He will give us feelings of love if he pleases. We cannot create them for ourselves, and we must not demand them as a right. But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not.
Now you know.
I hope to meet you here again next Thursday.
Dave,
That’s really good “Stuff”:
It puts in mind of some simpler “stuff” from a great ball player in the Negro Leagues:
“- Never run when you can walk.
- Never walk when you can stand.
- Never stand when you can sit.
- Never sit when you can lie down.
- And never lie down without taking a nap.”
Satchel Paige
Never having read any of Lewis' correspondence, this good post showing Lewis's council to individuals, in their particular spaces, situations and times, adds another dimension to my sense of Lewis and of his vocation.
I have come to see my feelings as having moral content and effects, and that I have a moral responsibility toward my feelings. My lack of appropriate feeling has at key points shown me my moral and intellectual lack. For example, honoring father and mother by visiting and caring for them; to truly honor, visit, and care REQUIRE not just the right outward actions and presence, but also the right emotional tone and feeling. Right feelings can grow habitual in us. In the long term, God sanctifies feelings as I trust and obey.
I do not think this contradicts Lewis's advice in the post, but rather finds support there. I would profit from hearing how others have experienced their feeling over time. Have you observed your feelings grow in effectiveness and gain integrity?