This is probably my favorite C. S. Lewis piece yet. I gleamed so much from "The Weight of Glory," especially in application to my own life.
Lewis begins this essay by speaking of the reward of heaven, and eventually outlines three types of reward we see in real life. The first, Lewis claims, is that of a reward with no natural connexion with the things one does to earn it. As lewis puts it, "Money is not the natural reward of love; that is why we call a man mercenary if he marries a woman for the sake of her money." This is not the type of reward we should seek, obviously. This type could also be put into practice with the act of sex. Love is not the natural reward for sex; in fact, it is just the opposite. This is seen as Lewis proceeds into the next case, in which he says, "But marriage is the proper reward for a real lover, and he is not a mercenary for doing it." Though I said that sex is the reward for love, I do not think I was necessarily wrong according to Lewis. We are rewarded for love with marriage, which brings along with it sex.
Lewis goes on to say something that will stick with me. He says, "The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation." I feel that if we miss this point, nothing can be gleamed form this section of the essay (and. more than likely, the rest of the essay). What this statement accomplishes is an admittance of being in glory, a topic i will cover shortly. Without this statement, one would assume that marriage is an end of love.
The last scenario of pursuing a reward relates to striving for something that is not really the final goal, but is simply a step for the ultimate goal. "The schoolboy beginning Greek grammar cannot look forward to his adult enjoyment of Sophocles as a lover looks
forward to marriage or a general to victory. He has to begin by working for marks, or to escape punishment, or to please his parents, or, at best, in the hope of a future good which he cannot at present imagine or desire." Indeed, I have applied this to my own decision to stick with engineering to attain a degree in engineering. I have virtually no role model in engineering, so I know not what my final goal is, other than to graduate from Calvin wiht a degree.
The last topic I will cover , covers one take on Glory by Lewis. He says that we love beauty so much, that we also want to be IN a certain beauty. For example, when I first met my present girlfriend, I wanted to know everything about her...her family, her relationship with God, her friends. I wanted to be a part of her life, and slowly that has happened. Maybe I'm alone on this application of Lewis's statements on the longing to be IN beauty, but I would like to know.
Mark, I understand what you mean when you say, "We are rewarded for love with marriage, which brings along with it sex." You're right that love is not the natural reward for sex by any means though people often mistake it for just that.
ReplyDeleteAs far as your concluding paragraph goes, I would say your application of the quote isn't illogical, but it's not what Lewis originally intended. I think we he talked of beauty he meant divinely created beauty ( not that your girlfriend wasn't divinely created). But the beauty of nature which we see on earth is a symbol of the beauty of God's glory in heaven. We can see the beauty on earth, but never be in it until we're in heaven. At least, that how I took what he was saying. So when you say you wanted to know everything about your girlfriend and her beautiful life, I think you apply Lewis' point in a more earthly sense as it relates to relationships between people rather than between God and people. It's not a bad thing, it's just,like you say, a personal application you took.
I also feel that this is my favorite C.S. Lewis piece so far. I think you are right in saying that so much important ideas lie in it, and I think you did a good job of focusing on a couple of those crucial points. I like how you picked out the quote,"The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation," because even though we did not discuss it in class it is important to remember while reading the sermon and in our own lives.
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