Because, today, I am in desperate need of a reminder. A reminder of where my priorities lie. Where my faith is fixed. Where I hide my heart. God help me stem the tide of bitterness in my soul.
From the pen of C. S. Lewis, in what may be his most breathtaking piece of nonfiction: The Weight of Glory.
It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. 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 splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that 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 a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner – no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.
And my other source of sanity. I point you to Stephen Colbert. Love and peace to y’all.
jubilare 
November 9th, 2016 at 12:45 pm
I was joking with my co-workers this morning that we should hand out little pieces of paper today to whoever needed it with Julian of Norwich’s lovely quote: “All shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well”.
(I’m still alive!)
November 9th, 2016 at 1:50 pm
I could use one of those pieces of paper right now. Maybe I’ll print out your comment and tape it to my hand.
November 9th, 2016 at 10:54 pm
I’m sharing this on FB because we all need it. I’m thinking a lot of of Niebuhr right now, too. Thanks for being you.
November 10th, 2016 at 6:56 am
*hugs* Oh, if I was being me, this would be a tirade of bitterness. It’s only by the grace of God that I’m reminded that that’s not who I want to be. But thank you for the encouragement. ^_^
November 10th, 2016 at 11:07 am
I feel like sharing this because I think you’ll appreciate it. I broke down crying last night (on top of all the things going on nationally and worldwide, a friend at work was fired without warning). And my strange cat decided that the only appropriate response to his human’s unusual behavior was a good smack. …seriously. He got up on the couch beside me, eyes wide, looking absolutely terrified, pulled back one of his massive paws (he’s polydactyl) and smacked me.
Animals. I love them so much!
November 13th, 2016 at 3:08 pm
We all need to be saved by Grace, Jubilare. Animals are pretty amazing. :-)
November 14th, 2016 at 9:03 am
Yes, indeed, on both counts.
November 10th, 2016 at 2:46 am
This is just a note to say that I am thinking of you prayerfully today. I am deeply concerned about events, not only in your country but across the world. I don’t know if the infamous “wall” will ever be built but right across the world many folk seem to be building walls in their hearts and shutting out the neighbours that we are called to love and then they cast their votes for the ones who offer to help them build those walls.
I really like your quotation from Lewis here. It helps us put everything in the light of eternity. As one writer put it yesterday there are deeper and longer rhythms at work than electoral cycles and we need to stay connected to those. You offer us a very deep and long cycle indeed!
Every blessing, Stephen.
November 10th, 2016 at 7:11 am
Thank you.
*hugs* I need hugs right now.
“many folk seem to be building walls in their hearts and shutting out the neighbours that we are called to love” This. Absolutely. I’ve watched the walls grow higher and higher, but this election season has been horrifying in so many ways. People are voting out of hate, and I don’t just mean prejudice, but they are voting FOR people they hate simply because they hate the “other side” more. This is not how a democratic republic is supposed to work.
We’re all in desperate need of perspective right now. I have to step back, or I’ll be overwhelmed with either hatred, despair, or both. I have to remember that I’m under orders to love, not to hate, even when love is hard. And if I don’t get myself together and set my eyes firmly on Him, I’m going to fail. …because hatred is easy, and at the moment, it feels like the only way to fight back, even though I know better. …He died for those who hated as well as those who loved Him.
November 10th, 2016 at 7:19 am
And first, and most definitely foremost, to pay God the huge compliment of allowing him to love you and to rest there. Every blessing ☺
November 10th, 2016 at 8:00 am
Ah, yes. Thank you for that reminder. ^_^ Blessings to you, as well.
November 10th, 2016 at 5:09 am
Take care, Jubilare. Thanks for posting this.
Brenton
November 10th, 2016 at 7:13 am
*hugs* Apologies to Canada. Apparently we crashed your immigration website, among other things.
November 11th, 2016 at 8:00 am
That’s okay! I work in the immigration office for PEI–I’m am actually writing our Strategy to see how we can get more people to move to our Island from around the world. Because we have no illegal immigration problem (there might be 0.3% illegals here), we can think clearly about immigration. Population growth drives economic growth and reduces the aging effect.
So, if folk want to Brexit to PEI, or trump across the border to learn or invest or work in PEI, let me know!
November 11th, 2016 at 9:07 am
Lol! Good to know. I think the immigrants are the life’s-blood of this country, even most of the undocumented ones. So many are hard-working, family-oriented, and eager to better themselves. We need them. But for some reason, in this country, the children of the previous waves of immigrants always seem to turn nasty towards the new waves.