Will Vaus

This was a sermon preached at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Forest, Virginia, on the occasion of the church's two-hundredth anniversary and in remembrance of one of their former members, Sheldon Vanauken... Years ago, motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar said,  “It is your attitude, more than your aptitude, that will determine your altitude.” I believe that is true.   I know from flying with my father as the pilot of a small plane that the attitude of the nose on a plane determines the altitude of that plane. Just so in life, our inner attitude determines how high we fly.   The big question posed by our Gospel text for today is:  what is our attitude toward others?  Listen for God’s word to you from Mark 9:38-50….   John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone  casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”  But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soo...

I had a wonderful time last week in Indianapolis speaking to the Central Indiana C. S. Lewis Society about the life and work of Sheldon Vanauken, author of A Severe Mercy . Fans and friends of Vanauken may be interested to know there will be a service in memory of Van at his beloved St. Stephen's Church in Forest, Virginia on Saturday, October 24. For details contact Fr. Christopher Heying at St. Stephen's http://www.ststephensforest.org/ . I will be speaking at this event and sharing my powerpoint presentation with many photos of the places from Van's life depicted in A Severe Mercy . For those in Lynchburg who have already seen my presentation you will be happy to know that it has been updated with many new photographs and some new information gleaned from my recent research. For more information about Sheldon Vanauken you may visit my web site: http://willvaus.com/sheldon_vanauken .

It is Friday morning at St. Stephen's House, Oxford, in between the summer apologetics conference and the beginning of the Perelandra Colloquium. I thought I might take this opportunity to comment on the setting for these two events. St. Stephen's House was formerly the mission house for the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE). This Anglican order is also known as the Cowley Fathers due to the location of the original mission house in Cowley, a suburb of Oxford. The photo above is of the cloister with the Church of St. John the Evangelist beyond. Below is a photo of the mission house itself. It was to this location that C. S. Lewis came to make confession to Father Walter Adams, one of the Cowley Fathers. Lewis began the practice of confession to a priest during the first week of November 1940, as noted in his letters to Sister Ruth Penelope Lawson. Lewis continued on with Father Adams until Adams' death in 1952. After Adams' death Lewis continued the p...

Today is my third day in Oxford. Alas, I haven't posted anything about this visit yet on this blog because I have been too busy. But here we go. . . . I have come to Oxford in order to attend two events: The Summer Apologetics Course at St. Stephen's House and The Perelandra Colloquium. But of course my real reason for coming to Oxford is just because I love the place. My first day here was spent walking about a good bit taking lots of photos. Even though I have been to Oxford several times before, the beauty of the architecture and setting has simply overwhelmed me once again. Though I have taken many photos of Oxford in the past, this opportunity has been unique for now I have a digital camera. Yea! Last night, as the sun was just setting around 9 pm, was the best photo op yet. I hope you will agree. . . . Magdalen College Tower The spire of the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin The Radcliffe Camera The Sheldonian Theatr...

A good crowd gathered at the White Hart Cafe in Lynchburg, Virginia on Saturday, February 7 for a powerpoint presentation I gave on the life and work of Sheldon Vanauken. Van, as he was known to family and friends, was best known as the author of A Severe Mercy , the autobiography of his love relationship with his wife Jean "Davy" Palmer Davis. While living in Oxford, England in the early 1950's, Van and Davy came to faith in Christ through the influence of C. S. Lewis. Van was a professor of history and English literature at Lynchburg College from 1948 until his retirement around 1980. A Severe Mercy tells the story of Davy's death from a mysterious liver ailment in 1955 and Van's subsequent dealing with grief. Van himself died from cancer in 1996. It was my privilege to know Van for a brief period of time during the last year of his life. However, present at the White Hart on February 7 were some who knew Van far better than I did--Floyd Newman, one of Van...