Author and religious scholar C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) is well-known for his popular fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia, but also for his many collected essays on Christianity. Recently someone gave me a boxed set of his theological books, including The Four Loves, that I read (OK, mostly dozed on) in college. But 40 years and some strong supplication later, I thought I’d give Lewis another try. From the set I randomly chose Mere Christianity, and quite wisely as it turned out, because the book has captivated me with a blend of straight-forward life lessons peppered with some paradoxical philosophy (see today’s post title.)

Mere Christianity began as live radio addresses by Lewis over the BBC from 1942 – 1944, designed to lift the spirits of war-weary Brits. Without fluff or heavy-handed judgement, Lewis’ broadcasts focused on pain, suffering and the roots of evil. In fact, the on-going German aggression is barely mentioned: instead, Lewis in layman’s terms reinforces the basics of faith formation to offer his fellow countrymen some emotional support during the most trying of times.

Apart from the scenario of World War II, Lewis’ essays help to explain some simple precepts of Christian life, sometimes reminding his listeners/readers of values they already knew they had (or should have), while other times shining new light on a right approach to life.

One of his most helpful allegories for right living uses the metaphor of a fleet of ships. In order for the fleet to successfully reach its destination, three things must occur. First, the fleet must sail in an orderly fashion and the ships not collide with one another. Second, each ship must of itself be in good working order (or “ship-shape” if you prefer.) But third, and most importantly, the fleet must arrive at a common and agreed-upon destination. For our sakes, let’s say that cars headed to a game at Yankee Stadium must not bump into each other on the thruway, have enough gas and proper working engines to make the trip, and not end up at CitiField by mistake.

Later on, in the essay entitled ‘The Cardinal Virtues’, Lewis corrects your humble author (not so ironically, if you’ve been paying attention) from a previous line in our entry ‘Random Quotes’ (August 13.) Lewis one-ups the poet Charles Kingsley (from “A Farewell”) by saying “The proper motto is not ‘Be good…and let those who can be clever,’ but ‘Be good, sweet maid, and don’t forget that this involves being as clever as you can. God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers.” We, dear readers, stand quite corrected.

For my fellow over-indulgers out there, digest this quick Lewis update on moderation, and I paraphrase: temperance refers not just to drink, but to all pleasures of the flesh; and it means not abstaining, but simply going the right distance and no further. Amen to that.

If you will, take a moment to muse on these masterful Lewis paradoxes, simply repeated here and left for you to sort out for yourselves:

“For the longest way round is the shortest way home.”

“We are taller when we bow down.”

And this existential bombshell:

“If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.” (Wait…what?!?)

Lastly, dear readers, some basic common sense for the road, from Mr. Lewis’ secular side:

“People quite often do what seemed impossible before they did it. It is wonderful what you can achieve when you have to.”

Amen to that.