Author: William OFlaherty

RETROSPECT: August 1st – 11th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for August 1-11 include: Lewis’s first time ever on the radio, earning of a second First at Oxford and two more letters from Screwtape.

In one sense not a lot of events occurred in Lewis’s life over the years during the first week and a half in August; but then the most significant from this period is likely among the highest points in his entire life. It was on the 6th in 1941 that he stood before a microphone to kick-off the first of four scheduled talks about “Right and Wrong: A Clue to the Meaning of the Universe.” The place was the offices of BBC Home Services and the local time was 7:45 p.m. Over the next fifteen minutes he would speak on “Common Decency,” but later this first chapter of book one in Mere Christianity would be called “The Law of Human Nature.”

Daily Lewis – Fact / Quote / Quiz: August 1st

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

Today (8/1) in 1941 the 14th letter from Screwtape was published in The Guardian before being in the book The Screwtape Letters.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing … it is irresistible. If even ten per cent of the world’s population had it, would not the whole world be converted and happy before a year’s end?”

Letter to Mary Margaret McCaslin 8/1/1953
(Published in The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume III)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

In which book does Lewis have Merlin play a role?
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

New Podcast Feed for All About Jack

William OFlaherty All About Jack

I’m changing my podcast feed for All About Jack and while most of you just wait to see it announced here, those of you who go for the direct feed will especially want to know about this change. That direct feed is: http://AllAboutJack.podbean.com/feed/. If you just want to go to the site itself to see the latest posting go here: AllAboutJack.podbean.com

I decided start off by adding the first four essay chats.

Daily Lewis – Fact / Quote / Quiz: July 31st

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

The Business of Heaven, published earlier this month in 1984 in the US was the first book of selections from Lewis in a daily format.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Avoid introspection in prayer—I mean not to watch one’s own mind to see if it is in the right frame, but always to turn the attention outwards to God.”

Letter to Dr. F. Morgan Roberts 7/31/1954
(Published in The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume III)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

What was Edmund’s reply to Mr. Beaver’s description of Aslan and that he was coming back to Narnia?
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

Daily Lewis – Fact / Quote / Quiz: July 30th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

“Epitaph” is a poem published today (7/30) in 1948 in The Spectator. Revised and retitled as “Epigrams and Epitaphs” in Poems.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“We really don’t know much about loving until we’re in touch with love Himself. ”

The Anvil
(BBC Radio Broadcast aired 7/22/1943)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

Complete the quote and name the source (3 words):
“So often, whether for good or ill, one’s inner state seems to have so little connection _____ _____ _____ .”
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

Daily Lewis – Fact / Quote / Quiz: July 29th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

Quam Bene Saturno, Lewis’s first published poem came out in July, 1913 (when he was just 14). It was in Cherbourg School Magazine.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“We must, on pain of idiocy, deny from the very outset the idea that looking at is, by its own nature, intrinsically truer or better than looking along. One must look both along and at everything. ”

Meditation in a Toolshed
(Published in The Coventry Evening Telegraph on 7/17/1945)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

This month in 1943 Lewis was a guest on what BBC program?
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

Daily Lewis – Fact / Quote / Quiz: July 28th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

The lighthearted essay “A Dream” was first published on this date (7/28) in 1944 in The Spectator. It’s available in Present Concerns.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“In my waking hours I would never [approve some actions]. But the dreaming mind is regrettably immoral.”

A Dream
(Published in The Spectator on 7/28/1945)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

Which of the Narnia books did Lewis NOT dedicated to anyone?
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

Upcoming Lecture on Lewis as Preacher

William OFlaherty Special Feature

This year is the 75th anniversary of C.S. Lewis’s first appearance behind the pulpit. His first sermon was in 1939 at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Oxford. To help mark this landmark event William O’Flaherty will be speaking at the C. S. Lewis Society of Chattanooga on Tuesday, August 12 to highlight all of his messages.

O’Flaherty’s talk is entitled “Lewis as Preacher – A 75th Anniversary Reflection” as is part of the group’s free summer series held at The Camp House in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Preview some of the material that will be covered at the talk by reading an article recently posted on HarperOne’s official C.S. Lewis blog. Below is the first couple of paragraphs

Daily Lewis – Fact / Quote / Quiz: July 27th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

The first US edition of The Four Loves was published today (7/27) in 1960.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“We find thus by experience that there is no good applying to Heaven for earthly comfort. Heaven can give heavenly comfort; no other kind.”

The Four Loves
(U.S. edition Published on 7/27/1960)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

Complete the quote and name the source (4 words):
“The standard of permanent Christianity must be kept clear in our minds and it is against that standard that we must ______ _____ _____ ______ .”
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

Daily Lewis – Fact / Quote / Quiz: July 26th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

The U.S. Paperback editions of Surprised By Joy and Till We Have Faces came out on July 9th ten years apart (1970, 1980).

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

[Screwtape Advises:] “I would make it a rule to eradicate from my patient any strong personal taste which is not actually a sin, even if it is something quite trivial.”

The Screwtape Letters XIII
(Published in The Guardian on 7/25/1941)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

What is the only essay by Lewis having the word “slaves” in the title that was also first published this month in what year?
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(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)