I didn't expect Lewis to advocate for evolution, but there is a section in this book where he speaks of our ape ancestors. Still, I found several arguments worth exploring and several well-known turns of phrases. One of my favorite poets, Randy Edwards, bases his Substack on Lewis' quote about "backward mutters." Also, there's the well-known quote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures... but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone." Another quote I loved: "We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies, but he hopes he'll never have to use it."
We often need pain's reminder that we are not self-sufficient. Pain encourages full surrender. God brings us to something we cannot endure without Him (how true in my life). Yet, we are still sometimes eager to return to our own sufficiency. Lewis writes, "The moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys.... I behave like the puppy when the hated bath is over - I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness, if not in the nearest manure heap, at least in the nearest flower bed." I praise God for my present pains! May they drive me to my knees and to total dependence upon God. Hopefully, I will not shake myself off when the crisis abates. I don't want to sink back into the false security of my sufficiency. Suffering remains God's powerful tool to draw us back to Him and remind us of His all-sufficient power.
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