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C. S. Lewis in California

The photo above is from an assembly I did a couple of weeks ago at American Martyrs Catholic School in Manhattan Beach, California. I spoke to 4th-8th graders about "My Journey with C. S. Lewis". Before I got started, one of the younger students asked me if I was C. S. Lewis! I had the sad duty of telling her that Lewis died the year I was born. However, she and a few hundred other students seemed to enjoy my presentation anyway and many bought my books and asked for my autograph afterwards.... Out of all the groups, young and old, I have spoken to about C. S. Lewis in the past few years, this group had the most questions, and all of their questions were very interesting. In fact, I didn't have enough time to answer them all! During my visit to the Los Angeles area I also spoke to Dr. Diana Glyer's C. S. Lewis class at Azusa Pacific University. My topic there was all about the spiritual themes in "The Last Battle".  In addition, I spoke to the Sout...

California Dreaming

I will be in the Los Angeles area this week speaking about C. S. Lewis in three different locations and signing copies of my newest book, Speaking of Jack: A C. S. Lewis Discussion Guide . On Tuesday afternoon, November 15, I will be speaking to one of Dr. Diana Glyer's English classes at Azusa Pacific University about spiritual themes in  The Last Battle . Then, on the morning of Wednesday, November 16, I will be speaking to fourth through eighth graders at American Martyrs School in Manhattan Beach about "My Journey with C. S. Lewis". And in the evening I will be speaking to The Southern California C. S. Lewis Society, meeting at Azusa Pacific University, about "C. S. Lewis, Father Walter Adams & Spiritual Direction". For more information about The Southern California C. S. Lewis Society you may visit their web site here:  So. Cal. CSL Society .

G. K. Chesterton

While I've been perusing C. S. Lewis' personal library at the Wade Center this week, I've also come across some of Lewis' favorite quotes from G. K. Chesterton. Here are just a few, underlined in Lewis' copy of  Chesterton's  Orthodoxy : "You can make a story out of a hero among dragons; but not out of a dragon among dragons. The fairy tale discusses what a sane man will do in a mad world. The sober realistic novel of to-day discusses what an essential lunatic will do in a dull world." "Nietzsche started a nonsensical idea that men had once sought as good what we now call evil; if it were so we could not talk of surpassing or even falling short of them. How can you overtake Jones if you walk in the other direction?" "But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun.... It may be that he has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and g...

George MacDonald

This week I have been at the Marion E. Wade Center in Wheaton, Illinois doing research for a new book I am writing on the top ten authors and books that influenced C. S. Lewis' vocational attitude and philosophy of life. #1 on that Top Ten list is George MacDonald (pictured above) and his book, Phantastes . As part of my research I have been perusing all the MacDonald books from Lewis' library now part of the collection at the Wade. Here are some of my favorite MacDonald quotes, also favorites of Lewis, that I have come across in my research: From  The Miracles of Our Lord : "God's greatest work has never been done in crowds, but in closets; and when it works out from thence, it is not upon crowds but upon individuals. A crowd is not a divine thing. It is not a body. Its atoms are not members one of another." "The man who prays, in proportion to the purity of his prayer, becomes a spiritual power, a nerve from the divine brain, yea, perhaps a gangl...

Speaking of Jack in the Midwest

On Sunday I head to the midwest for two "Speaking of Jack" book-signings. The first one will be in Indianapolis on Monday, October 24,  7-9 p.m. at  Second Presbyterian Church,  7700 N. Meridian Street, Room 112. This meeting will be with the Central Indiana C. S. Lewis Society. I will be talking about C. S. Lewis' experience of spiritual direction with Father Walter Adams. Then on Saturday, October 29, at 11:15 am I will be speaking and signing books at the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College (pictured above). For more information click here: Wade Center News

Interview on the C. S. Lewis Minute

William O'Flaherty of the "C. S. Lewis Minute" podcast recently interviewed me about my book, Speaking of Jack: A C. S. Lewis Discussion Guide . You can listen to the first part of that interview here: C. S. Lewis Minute

C. S. Lewis Retreat

I will be speaking at a retreat hosted by the C. S. Lewis Society of Frederick, Maryland, this Saturday, September 24, from 11 am to 5 pm. The retreat is free and open to all. I will be giving two lectures as well as leading the Evening Prayer Service from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The topics of the lectures will be Lewis' novel, Till We Have Faces , and C. S. Lewis: A Publishing Phenomenon.  I will also be signing copies of my books, including my latest-- Speaking of Jack: A C. S. Lewis Discussion Guide . For more information click here: Frederick CSL Society .

How to Avoid God

"If God--such a God as any adult religion believes in--exists, mere movement in space will never bring you any nearer to Him or farther from Him than you are at this very moment. You can neither reach Him nor avoid Him by traveling to Alpha Centauri or even to other galaxies. A fish is no more, and no less, in the sea after it has swum a thousand miles than it was when it first set out. "How, then, it may be asked, can we either reach or avoid Him? "The avoiding, in many times and places, has proved so difficult that a very large part of the human race failed to achieve it. But in our own time and place it is extremely easy. Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health and (above all) on your own grievances. Keep the radio on. Live in the crowd. Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them very carefully. But you'd be safer to stick to the papers. Yo...

The Dragon Forest

One of the joys of traveling to different places around the world and lecturing about C. S. Lewis and his work is the opportunity to meet other talented lovers of Lewis' books. One of those I met recently was R. A. Douthitt, who was inspired by reading Lewis and Tolkien to write The Dragon Forest . Having made my own attempt to write a fairy tale (as yet unpublished) I appreciate the efforts of anyone seeking to write in the spirit of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings . The Dragon Forest may be purchased from Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/160290281X/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004XJ4GV8&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1DAVWJ9GJFA6C3TYW4XH For a full review of the book visit HollywoodJesus.com here: http://live.hollywoodjesus.com/?p=8291 R. A. Douthitt is also an accomplished artist. You may view Douthitt's work here: http://artbyruth.homestead.com/...

The Lizard of Lust

Here is one of my favorite pieces from all of C. S. Lewis' work. It is taken from The Great Divorce.... I saw coming towards us a Ghost who carried something on his shoulder. Like all the Ghosts, he was unsubstantial, but they differed from one another as smokes differ. Some had been whitish; this one was dark and oily. What sat on his shoulder was a little red lizard, and it was twitching its tail like a whip and whispering things in his ear. As we caught sight of him he turned his head to the reptile with a snarl of impatience. “Shut up, I tell you!” he said. It wagged its tail and continued to whisper to him. He ceased snarling, and presently began to smile. Then be turned and started to limp westward, away from the mountains. “Off so soon?” said a voice. The speaker was more or less human in shape but larger than a man, and so bright that I could hardly look at him. His presence smote on my eyes and on my body too (for there was heat coming from him as well as ligh...

Love Your Enemies

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:43-48 "We must try to feel about the enemy as we feel about ourselves--to wish that he were not bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another, be cured: in fact, to wish his good. That is what is meant in the Bible by loving him: wishing his good, not feeling fond of him nor saying he is nice when he is not." C. S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity"

C. S. Lewis's Lost Aeneid

In 1962 C. S. Lewis was asked by The Christian Century , “What books did most to shape your vocational attitude and your philosophy of life?” In response, Lewis listed ten books. #3 on that list was The Aeneid by Virgil ( The Christian Century , 6 June 1962). Lewis first encountered the great Roman poet of the first century BC while he was a student at Cherbourg Preparatory School in Great Malvern, England, from 1911 to 1913. Lewis was then in his early teens. His first reading of Virgil contributed, indirectly, to his temporary turn to atheism. He described it this way in chapter IV of Surprised by Joy : This ludicrous burden of false duties in prayer provided, of course, an unconscious motive for wishing to shuffle off the Christian faith; but about the same time, or a little later, conscious causes of doubt arose. One came from reading the classics. Here, especially in Virgil, one was presented with a mass of religious ideas; and all teachers and editors took it for gr...

Chatting about Jack in Chattanooga

It was a lot of fun speaking to the Chattanooga C. S. Lewis Society last night. Thanks to all the good people who were in attendance for making it such a good night and special thanks to my gracious hosts, David and Sheila Beckmann. To learn more about the group click here: http://www.cslewischatt.blogspot.com/ The topic last night was my book, Mere Theology , which the group has been discussing for the past three or four months. Great questions were put forward by many in the group, including this one: "What would C. S. Lewis say to Harold Camping?" Afterwards, I signed copies of my new book, Speaking of Jack: A C. S. Lewis Discussion Guide . I was delighted to connect with a number of friends at the meeting. Sadly I didn't get photos with all of them. One surprise was having Bill and Sarah DeWaters there. They are friends from a church I served in Pennsylvania years ago. Also, Debbie Higgins, resident director at The Kilns, C. S. Lewis' former home in Oxfor...

Tales of Rathscar

Over the past couple of weeks I have been reading to my son Joshua's class a story I have written entitled-- Tales of Rathscar: The Tunnel Under Scarborough House . So far the reactions from Josh's fellow students have been very positive to this middle-grade fantasy novel, written in the spirit of C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. One ten-year-old boy told me today, "It's the best story I've ever heard!" So what's it about? The James Family (Ian, Deirdre and their four children--Tim, Liam, Ryan and Pip), move from America to a 12-bedroom Irish country manor, Scarborough House. 13-year-old Liam, who narrates this story, is the first to discover there are many unusual things about the house where they are living. Not only is it the site of an ancient battle, it is also built atop a faerie mound and has a tunnel running underneath it. Life only becomes weirder and more dangerous for Liam when he meets Tom the Leprechaun who lives, secretly, on the gr...

The Book is in Print!

Speaking of Jack: A C. S. Lewis Discussion Guide is now in print. My copies arrived yesterday and I started shipping signed copies to those who have ordered from me. I really like the way the book came out. The cover is beautiful, thanks to the work of Winged Lion Press. It also feels great. This cover is different from my other books in that it has a matte finish and so has a velvety feel to it which I like very much. This is also one of my larger books, at 278 pages. Well, I could go on and on. Authors are always excited when they receive the first copies of their new book, whether it is their first, or as in this case, their fifth. You can read a sample chapter of the book here: http://wingedlionpress.com/speaking_of_jack.html You can order from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Speaking-Jack-Lewis-Discussion-Guide/dp/1936294125/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1303843992&sr=8-6 If you order from Amazon, please write and post a review there as well! If you want a signe...

Endorsements

Here are two endorsements just in for my new book.... "With the growing interest in C.S. Lewis, the time has come for a one-volume study guide to 40 of his books. Speaking of Jack is a great resource for individuals and particularly for Lewis reading groups. Simple enough for newcomers, but even experienced Lewisians will benefit from Will Vaus' encyclopedic knowledge." Dr. Joel Heck A uthor of Irrigating Deserts: C. S. Lewis on Education "Good books. Good friends. Good conversations. Will Vaus has found the perfect way to bring them all together. It's genius. I recommend it." Dr. Diana Pavlac Glyer Author of The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community The release date for Speaking of Jack: a C. S. Lewis Discussion Guide is April 25, 2011. To learn more about the book and pre-order click here: http://willvaus.com/inc/sdetail/1693/1936

Speaking of Jack

A friend emailed me the other day and asked if I had given up on blogging since I hadn't posted anything since January. I have been remiss in regard to this blog, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. For the past three months I have been writing away. You can learn about my works in progress by visiting my web site here: willvaus.com/in_process . And now, my newest book is about to be released by Winged Lion Press. It is entitled Speaking of Jack: A C. S. Lewis Discussion Guide. Here is the publisher's blurb all about it: C. S. Lewis Societies have been forming around the world since the first one started in New York City in 1969. Will Vaus has started and led three groups himself. Speaking of Jack is the result of Vaus' experience in leading those Lewis societies. Included here are introductions to most of Lewis' books as well as questions designed to stimulate discussion about Lewis' life and work. These materials have been "road tested...

Prayer Request

Anne Jenkins, a child correspondent of C. S. Lewis who wrote the preface to The Hidden Story of Narnia , died yesterday after a long battle with cancer. Anne is the one to my immediate left in the photo above. The photo was taken at a book-signing Anne arranged for me at Living Oasis Bookshop in Watford, England, Anne's hometown. Please be in prayer for Anne's husband Steve and their grown children. As Anne struggled valiantly against cancer we often spoke about how she was "between the paws of Aslan". She is surely there now, with her beloved Lord. But I will miss her until we meet again.

Through the Wardrobe

Through the Wardrobe is a new collection of essays by young adult fiction writers about their adventures entering "through the wardrobe" into C. S. Lewis' Narnia books. You may read my review of this essay collection at the HarperCollins C. S. Lewis Blog here: http://booksbycslewis.blogspot.com/2011/01/through-wardrobe.html