2.10.2010

The Four Loves, chap. 1, para. 2-3, 8, pp. 11-12, 14-15

cathedral

"Divine Love is Gift-love. The Father gives all He is and has to the Son. The Son gives Himself back to the Father, and gives Himself to the world, and for the world to the Father, and thus gives the world (in Himself) back to the Father too.

And what, on the other hand, can be less like anything we believe of God's life than Need-love? He lackes nothing, but our Need-love, as Plato saw, is "the son of Poverty." It is the accurate reflection in consciousness of our actual nature. We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves.

...A very strange corollary follows. Man approaches God most nearly when he is in one sense least like God. For what can be more unlike than fullness and need, sovereignty and humility, righteousness and penitence, limitless power and a cry for help? This paradox staggered me when I first ran into it."

~C. S. Lewis

4 comments:

Sueann said...

Very powerful words!!! I love C.S. Lewis' writings. Thanks for sharing
Hugs
SueAnn

S. Etole said...

powerful message, Georgia ... powerful

Char said...

beautiful message

Hi Kooky said...

Oh that C.S. Lewis. Beautiful and so very true.