"A Grief Observed": from puzzling to enlightening!

You know, the thought has occurred to me as I ponder the death of one of my professors from SEBTS seminary, C. S. Lewis' book, A Grief Observed, offers an ironic twist depending on your point of view when read.
Reading it before you have gone through such grief leaves you acquainted with grief, and C.S. Lewis, but not quite understanding him or his grief. The book seems a little extreme, and out there somewhere.
After one has undergone such a loss as a wife, reading the book leaves you not only understanding Lewis and his grief, but also understanding yourself and grief better! At a time when you feel the least understood, and you feel you identify least with anyone, you find a comrade, a com padre that can come along side and understand where you are and what you are feeling, the situation you are dealing with.
It helps you learn how to reach out for help, and even to help others. You find out, and teach others, that we are not alone!
Let's remember my professor's family in prayer as they deal with their loss, and rejoice in his gain: The home going of Dr. L. Russ Bush.

God offers more than "Stop It!"

C.S.Lewis' "A Grief Observed" really helped me deal with my grief by understanding it, dealing with the realities of my loss, and realizing that I was not alone, or weak for struggling and hurting.
Sometimes we just want to deal with ourselves harshly, the way this video of Bob Newhart so cleverly epitomizes our own favorite method:



There is also denial, diversions, replacement therapy, and others that buy us time and help us cope. But C. S. Lewis helped me so much in putting things in perspective with his writings, and his gut-level honesty and transparency.

That's Jack!

I think it interesting that he responded to losing his favorite dog by taking on his name. It seems so characteristic for C.S.Lewis to find some positive way of dealing with death at such an early age, seeing all the death and grief that was ahead: His mother's cancer and death when he was only 9, his friend's death at 19, and his long awaited wife's cancer and death at 60 after only a short marriage. These in addition to caring for his friends mother and sister for so many years until the mother's institutionaliztion and death, his father's death, and his brother's binge drinking, he learned to roll with the punches. For him, I think he did more coping than grieving, keeping a very emotionaly detatched responce until his wife, Joy, challenged and changed him. In his book/diary "A Grief Observed" he met Grief head on, to the betterment of us all.

You Don't Know Jack!

I've heard of C.S. Lewis most of my life, and read his books, read about him, and I truly respect who he was and what he taught. But, only this year I learned that his friends and family all called him Jack! It seems that at an early age of four, he decided that Clive Staples was not who he was, so he took on the name of Jacksie after a neighborhood dog he treasured bearing that name was recently deceased. There are so many tales and stories about this man and his work that I want to create this blog to honor him and perpetuate his legacy. Please check back from time to time, and please comment where you find something to add about him or his work.