A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis

I read this book years ago, but decided that I wanted to re-read it this Christmas. Because of my mother's death on Christmas day thirty plus years ago I have always had a bit of depression that weaves it's way in at Christmas time. It didn't help this year that I also officiated at two funerals during the month of December, it brought back many memories.

So, I thought I would read again C.S. Lewis's book on his grieving over the death of his wife. He had married late in life and married a woman who already had grown children. She became the light of his life (other than Christ). So when she died it was a great blow to this Godly man.

His faith did not waver, but his thoughts about how Christians comfort one another and how God comforts us were things that were hard to encounter and decipher. People meant well, but did they truly understand grief.

C.S. Lewis gives us a crisp, clear message on how he dealt with his loss and the clear agony of the grief that encompassed him. I think that the one quote from the book that struck me was how this Philosopher / Writer / Theologian who was use to thinking things through, making sense of the black and white of an issue and determining the cultural and historical and theological truths came to have a small crisis. Here is the quote that signifies that crisis;

     "Feelings, and feelings, and feelings. Let me try thinking instead."

He goes on to talk about wanting to look at her death from the rational point of view, but every time he tried his "feelings" got in the way. For this philosopher to be "betrayed" by emotions was probably a truly difficult crisis. BUT, it was a crisis that brought him to the feet of Jesus and a crisis that brought him to the point of writing his thoughts down and sharing them in a book with all of us.

If you know C.S. Lewis and his writings then you will understand how difficult this book was for him to write.

If you have known grief in any significant way then this book will give you a clear picture of how one Godly man dealt with his grief and thus some insights on how you can deal with your grief.

I truly want to thank C.S. Lewis for sharing his heart and soul with us in this text. After thirty-three years I could finally read it, understand it, and apply the truths of it to my life.