Will Vaus

On the second full day of our C. S. Lewis Tour we drove from Belfast north around the Antrim Coast. We saw the former fishing village of Larne where Jack spent his last holiday with his mother before her death in 1908. As we made our way around the coast, we paid a visit to the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge. The bridge was first erected by salmon fishermen in 1755. The site is now operated by the National Trust. Given how many times Jack Lewis visited the Antrim Coast, especially in his youth, this is probably a site with which he would have been familiar.  Today you can take a walk across the rope bridge just like the fishermen of old. The next stop along the Antrim Coast is at the Giant's Causeway, a World Heritage site. In the photo above my son Josh is standing on the giant's boot. Lewis would have been familiar from childhood days with the mythical tale associated with the Giant's Causeway. His one mention of the place is in a letter to his ...

I led a C. S. Lewis Tour of Ireland and England from August 14 to 26, 2016. We hope to do this tour again in 2018. So if you find the photos from our tour intriguing, please stay in touch. Our tour operator was Russ Head of the  Travel Connection . We began our tour in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where we stayed in the Jury's Inn, right in the center of town, across the street from the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church (pictured above). Our walking tour of central Belfast included a stop at Writers' Square where C. S. Lewis is remembered with this paving stone. Sadly, Cair Paravel is misspelled.  We ventured on with our guide, Sandy Smith, to Lewis' birthplace. Here is a video piece with Sandy.... From Lewis' birthplace we travelled on a short distance to Lewis' childhood home, Little Lea. The brilliant sunlight that day provided quite a contrast to this house which Lewis himself said was "much suffered in". It was here, at th...

The Gospel lectionary reading for today is from Matthew 19:3-12.... Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?' He answered, 'Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning "made them male and female", and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.' They said to him, 'Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?' He said to them, 'It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.' His disciples said to him, 'If such is the case of a man with h...

The Gospel lectionary reading for today is from Matthew 18:21-19:1.... Then Peter came and said to him, 'Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 'For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything." And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, "Pay what you o...

The Gospel lectionary reading for today is from John 12:24-26....  Jesus said "Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour." To listen to a message on this passage, click here:  Conkers or the Cross?

The Gospel lectionary reading for today is from Matthew 25:1-13....  Jesus said to his disciples, "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, 'Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, 'No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bri...

The Gospel lectionary reading for today is from Matthew 17:22-27....  As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, 'The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.' And they were greatly distressed. When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, 'Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?' He said, 'Yes, he does.' And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it first, asking, 'What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?' When Peter said, 'From others', Jesus said to him, 'Then the children are free. However, so that we do not give offence to them, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.' You may listen to a sermon I preached on th...

The Gospel lectionary reading for today is from Matthew 16:24-28.... Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” Jesus gives to Peter and all of the disciples, including us, three essential guidelines for coming after him. First of all he says that we must deny ourselves. We tend to think of self-denial in a very limited sense. We might give up some luxury for Lent. Or maybe we give up eating a certain...