Reflection - in both verb and noun

Many of you have asked, what exactly is the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute?

Typically, my sorry attempts to explain have left you wondering and still in want of a decent answer. May this post be a redemption of sorts. :)

The Mission statement of the C.S. Lewis Foundation (instituted 1972)

Inspired by the life and legacy of C.S. Lewis, we seek to advance the renewal of Christian thought and creative expression throughout the world of learning and the culture at large.

Every three years, the Institute has welcomed "students" of the Christian faith to the distinguished College residences of Oxford and Cambridge - the Alma mater of Lewis, under a specific theme. Once environments of great and stimulating Christian thought, Oxford in particular is now considered to be thoroughly secular. It is home to the worlds foremost militant atheist, Richard Dawkins.

Oxbridge 2008 runs under the theme Imago Dei? The Self and Search for Meaning

The idea is to provoke our intellect and spirit to greater heights by means of fellowship, discourse and sitting under a lot of good old fashioned tutelage by scholars in the field of study we pre-selected a number of weeks ago.

Apart from being a pathetic junkie of all things C.S. Lewis, the specifics of this years theme struck a gong in my head and a flutter unlike others in my chest.

It simply but surely resonated with everything that had ever confounded me AND with all I had ever considered "profound".

It instantly brought to mind three highly revered points of reference that have greatly influenced my life as a pilgrim on this earth...

1. Ecclesiastes 3, my favourite scripture passage

2. The powerful lyrics of a highly esteemed Christian singer/songwriter, Carolyn Arends

3. The incredibly illustrated book, Dangerous Journey

Bear with me as I elaborate on these three things and you will understand how they came together so forcefully the moment I laid eyes on the conference promo material...

I have seen the burden God has laid on men.

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;

yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecc.3:10,11

He has set eternity in my heart --- I mulled that one over for years, I loved the sound of it but it scared me too. Over time I found it answering many questions of faith for me, perhaps it would be more correct to say that it settled many arguments in my own rebel mind.

Carolyn Arends is a singer/songwriter of note and an artist I promote unashamedly to my choir students. If we are what we listen to, then this woman is nothing short of a God-send to the shallow, impoverished smorgasbord of what now passes for Christian Contemporary music.

Here are the words of Reaching, found on her album Seize the Day:

There's a time I can recall, four years old and three feet tall

trying to reach the stars and the cookie jar

but both were out of reach...

Later on in my highschool, it seemed a little cruel

how the right words to say always seemed to stay

just out of reach.

Well I should not have thought it strange

that growing causes growing pains 'cause the more we learn

the more we know --- we don't know anything!

Still, it seems a tragic fate, living with this quiet ache

...the constant strain for what remains, just out of reach.

We are reaching for the future, we are reaching for the past

and no matter what we have, we reach for more

We are desperate to discover what is just beyond our grasp

but maybe...that's what heaven is for.

There are times I can't forget -- dressed up in my Sunday best,

trying not to squirm and to maybe learn, a bit of what the preacher preached.

And later, lying in the dark? I felt a stirring in my heart

and though I longed to see what could not be seen

I still believed!

I guess I shouldn't think it odd -- until we see the face of God,

the yearning deep within us tells us, there's more to come!

So when we taste of the divine, it leaves us hungry every time

for one more taste of what awaits -- when heavens gates are reached.

We are reaching...

and I believe -- that's what heaven's for.

Now I know one is more struck by music than the other, but this song is signature for me.

It blesses me every single time I hear it and curiously, as if on cue, it also conjures up images of my all time favourite book - Dangerous Journey, the beautifully illustrated adaptation of John Bunyan's classic, Pilgrims Progress. If you don't know about this story, please make it your mission to own a copy and by all means, read it aloud to anyone who will listen!

These three things are representative of what has most certainly shaped me and I have just made myself transparent to you in sharing them. I know I am not unique in this. We all alike have experiences and influences that remind us of who we are and who we are becoming in the hands of the Silversmith. Refiners Fire...hey! there's a song in there somewhere :)

Since nothing happens by chance, I feel blessed beyond measure to be here at Oxford, immersed in the stuff of Imago Dei.

....man, am I ever tired. Time for a break. :)