This Tuesday we will be discussing chapters 7-8 of C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce. As we progress through the book, the ghosts and their respective problems should be getting more personal. This week, we’ll meet the ghosts of doubt – the Hard-Bitten Cynical and the Frightened Shame-filled ghost. Remember, as you read through these two stories, find the ghost within yourself and not within others.
As you read about the Hard-Bitten Ghost, ask yourself:
· Why is the Ghost “hard-bitten?”
· Do you think the Hard-Bitten Ghost is overly cynical?
· How is cynicism dangerous?
· Is there any room for “God” in the Hard-Bitten Ghost’s universe?
· In The Abolition of Man, Lewis writes: “You can’t go on ‘seeing through’ things forever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. To ‘see through’ all things is the same as not to see.” How does this apply to the Ghost?
· Each of us has been hard-bitten by the Church. Why do you still return on Sunday (and on Tuesday night)?
As you read about the Frightened Ghost, ask yourself:
· What is the Ghost frightened of?
· Why does the Ghost not want to be seen?
· Can the same event produce both a Hard-Bitten and a Frightened Ghost?
· How does the Spirit tell the Frightened Ghost to overcome its condition? Have we seen this advice before?
· What was the purpose of the final “expedient”?
SCHEDULE: Please remember that this Monday evening at 5:30 at Wingard Hall at St. Phillip, Messiah is having a prayer service for Bratton Fennel as he leaves for Houston.
Dinner is at 6. The menu is chili. Discussion about 6:45. Hope to see you here.
Praise the Lord, O my soul! *
Psalm 146
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for there is no help in them.
When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
and in that day their thoughts perish.
Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! *
whose hope is in the Lord their God;
Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps his promise for ever;
Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; *
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous;
the Lord cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.
The Lord shall reign forever, *
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.