10.14.2010

no ordinary people

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of the kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously--no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners--no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat, the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.

from The Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis

3 comments:

  1. I'm reading this, too! I love it. I'm using it as a sort of devotional, reading a few pages a night, so you'll probably finish it before me, but so far, I'm really enjoying it. :) There are a couple of theological hiccups, of course, since it's Lewis, but I think the heart of what he says is usually pretty amazing. I'm a big fan of his!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Weight of Glory has some fantastic essays in it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm really enjoying it so far! I'm just on the second essay right now, not very far into it.

    ReplyDelete