I just finished reading C.S. Lewis' book, The Pilgrim's Regress.
This on the coat tails of another allegory, Hinds Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard.
One must rely more upon imagination than intellect when approaching these Christian classics.
'Regress' captured my imagination from page one. In fact, I asked to read aloud to several friends and a willing husband the first bits. I decided not to try and dissect the meanings so I didn't mark or comment on any of the lines that grabbed my attention as I went along. Often times, I think it best to just read a book. In the back of my mind I'm thinking that I will go back and re-read the book and use a finer toothed comb the second time.
Now I wish I would have highlighted the 'highlights' that struck me. They were worthy of a deeper look and hopefully I will find the time and inclination to go back to them. I'm just not feeling as keen at the moment because as I neared the last third of the book, it was losing me and the ending left me feeling a tad dry and confused. On the other hand, Hinds Feet left me feeling exhilarated and ready for action.
Allegory is one thing, but poetry is another. For some reason, I can't cross that divide between me and some poetry and 'Regress' had huge doses of poems in the closing chapters. I know my sister Melanie loves to sit and read her poetry. My friend Cathie described a very positive experience she had in high school because of a dedicated teacher who helped her embrace the beauty of poetry. I guess I need a poetry appreciation class to help me on my way. I find it strange that I feel this way because I feel like I am a poetic soul by nature. I guess I only enjoy certain flavors.
I believe books have a way of finding you and usually there is a story attached to how and why I end up reading a book.
This particular story comes because I bought a course from Regent College called the Spiritual Pilgrimage that Maxine Hancock taught several years back. Maxine is a professor and is a family friend of Gina's in-laws who actually attended Matt and Gina's wedding eight years ago. (*eight years ago! can this be???) The main thrust of the course was Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. I have been making my way through this for the past year. The Pilgrim's Regress was a required reading for the course. There are several other books that I've also purchased to go along with this so I will continue to make my way through them.
This desire for 'schooling' obviously comes to me because of the blank spots in my high school education due to lack of interest at the time (the 60's were upon us!) and the fact that I never pursued a college or university path. It's never too late for these things.
C.S. Lewis definitely experienced all the higher education of his days at Oxford and the book is riddled with obscure references to the philosophies of this world especially in the spirit of the age during his day. In fact, in the afterwards of his book he said he wishes he hadn't been so obscure in his allusions.
So, part of the bottom line is that the wisdom of this world is definitely not what it is cracked up to be, for we must all become simple (humble) and accept the wisdom of God for our Salvation. In that way, C.S. Lewis and I are on the same playing field. I can only admire how he used his God given gifts and used his baptized imagination to write these awesome books.
The Pilgrim's Regress will now be a part of me in whatever level it finds to settle. I'm sure it will leak out of me in future posts and conversations. The first part of the book definitely made an impression.
Happy reading!
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