Um nach langen, ermüdenden Arbeitstagen sich nochmals aufzuraffen und einige Zeilen zu lesen, brauche ich einen ausgezeichneten Text. Diese Woche habe ich immer wieder einige Brocken aus dem Vortrag von John Piper über sein Lernen von C. S. Lewis genossen. So die Zusammenfassung über zwei Hauptthemen von Lewis’ Leben:
(W)e have these two great themes in Lewis’s life: 1) the experience of Joy as an inconsolable longing in this world always pointing to the Reality beyond this world and 2) the defense of the objective nature of that Reality, that is, God, with all the ethical and epistemological implications of that defense. We see Lewis defending the objective Reality behind the experience of Joy because without it this experience is utterly trivialized as a mere animal state of the brain. Man as man is abolished. But now we have seen that in fighting for the dignity and majesty and eternity of the experience of Joy, Lewis is in fact fighting for the glory of God. Because, as he says, fully to enjoy God is to glorify God
Dieses Grundanliegen wirkt sich auf alle Lebensbereiche auf, zum Beispiel auf das Empfinden des “Gewöhnlichen” als des Ausserordentlichen:
To wake up in the morning and to be aware of the firmness of the mattress, the warmth of the sun’s rays, the sound of the clock ticking, the coldness of the wooden floor, the wetness of the water in the sink, the sheer being of things (quiddity as he called it). And not just to be aware but to wonder. To be amazed that the water is wet. It did not have to be wet. If there were no such thing as water, and one day some one showed it to you, you would simply be astonished.
Das intensive Wahrnehmen des wirklich Schönen “imprägniert” vor zu starker Gewichtung des Äusserlichen – ein wichtiges Wort für die auf ewige Jugend und äussere Perfektion eingestellte westliche Welt:
Lewis’ unwavering commitment to what is True and Real and Valuable, as opposed to what is trendy or fashionable or current, has been another kind of liberation for me, namely, from “chronological snobbery.” He loved the wisdom of the ages, not the whimsy of the passing present. He called himself a Neanderthaler and a dinosaur. He didn’t read newspapers. He never wore a watch. He never learned to type. He did not own or drive a car. He cared nothing about cutting a good appearance and wore the same old clothes until they were threadbare. He was incredibly free from the addicting powers of the present moment. The effect of this on me has been to make me wary of what he called “chronological snobbery.” That is, he has shown me that “newness” is no virtue, and “oldness” is no fault.