CS Lewis in his own words

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One of modern Christianity’s most revered writers is C.S. Lewis. Above are two of his radio broadcasts from World War II. Note: though the person who posted these two claims they are the only two surviving radio broadcasts, that might be a slight exaggeration.

C.S. Lewis, however, was not a modern American evangelical. He was a British “high” Anglican. This means that some of what he was would be considered unexpected in an American evangelical. But, his writing crossed all denominational and jurisdictional lines, so that C.S. Lewis is cited by clergy and writers from all Christian groups. The 50th anniversary of his death was less than a month ago.

In reading an article on Internetmonk, some interesting facts were brought up about C.S. Lewis:

• But Lewis never got rich from his Christian classics, says Michael Maudlin, executive editor at HarperOne. … “His books left him poor,” Maudlin said. “He had all of this money coming in, but he didn’t take those royalties.” … Lewis vowed to donate all the money he made from his books on Christianity, Maudlin says.
• Lewis was not so adept in the ordinary world. He never learned to drive or type because he was too clumsy. And he was a shabby dresser who lived in a house that was falling apart.
• The demands of caring for an alcoholic brother and a disabled woman proved so difficult for Lewis that he was hospitalized for exhaustion at one point. Yet Lewis took care of Janie Moore and her daughter even as she presumably stopped being his lover, scholars say.
• Lewis didn’t try to hide from a public that sought his counsel after he became famous. He made no attempt to conceal his phone number. He rose at daybreak to answer letters from people seeking spiritual advice. He even made personal visits.  A priest once wrote Lewis that he didn’t know whether he believed in a loving God anymore. Lewis met the man and spent an afternoon talking to him about his problem, wrote A.N. Wilson, author of, “C.S. Lewis: A Biography.”

Yes, C.S. Lewis was every bit as unexpected as some of the characters in his writings.