Will Vaus

Among the oxen (like an ox I'm slow) I see a glory in the stable grow Which, with the ox's dullness might at length Give me an ox's strength. Among the asses (stubborn I as they) I see my Saviour where I looked for hay; So may my beastlike folly learn at least The patience of a beast. Among the sheep (I like a sheep have strayed) I watch the manger where my Lord is laid; Oh that my baa-ing nature would win thence Some woolly innocence! C. S. Lewis, Poems , p. 122.

"We had our first frost last night--this morning the lawns are all grey, with a pale, bright sunshine on them: wonderfully beautiful. And somehow exciting . The first beginning of the winter always excites me; it makes me want adventures." C. S. Lewis, Letters to Children , 16 October 1955.

My review of The Illustrated Screwtape Letters has been posted on the C. S. Lewis Blog here: http://booksbycslewis.blogspot.com/2009/12/illustrated-screwtape.html

The Nativity by Gerard van Honthorst (1590-1656) "Yes," said Queen Lucy. "In our world too, a Stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world." C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle , chapter 13.

Two thousand years go by while on the Cross Our Lord is suffering still--there is no end Of pain: the spear pierces, nails rend-- And we below with Mary weep our loss. The chilling edge of night crawls round the earth; At every second of the centuries The dark comes somewhere down, with dreadful ease Slaying the sun, denying light's rebirth. But if the agony and death go on, Our Lady's tears, Our Lord's most mortal cry, So, too, the timeless lovely birth again-- And the forsaken tomb. Today: the dawn That never ended and can never die In breaking glory ushers in the slain. Advent by Sheldon Vanauken from A Severe Mercy , Davy's Edition, p. 122.