Sanctified Imagination: Remembering   C. S. Lewis

November 22 is the anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis in 1963, and it is the day he is remembered on the new liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church.  Lewis was an academic and an author.  His most famous books are perhaps those from the series The Chronicles of Narnia, beloved by both children and adults.  The second book in the series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, was written for Lewis's goddaughter, Lucy.  Lucy is also the name of one of the main characters; she is the little girl who first discovers the wardrobe and hence Narnia. 

The Episcopal Church gives thanks for Lewis's "sanctified imagination."  His words invite us to look within all of reality to see the unseen giver of life, God.  Curiously, Lewis's faith and imagination also lead him to look clearly at all of reality - including his neighbor - in God.  In other words, imagining God helps us to re-imagine reality in a different light.  The ordinary becomes extraordinary.   

One of my favorite passages from Lewis comes from the end of "The Weight of Glory," where he writes, "There are no ordinary people.  You have never talked to a mere mortal.  . . .Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses."  I love that:  there are no ordinary people.  Life is never ordinary.  Faith in this sense bring us to our senses and brings us to gratitude.