A Grief Observed By C. S. Lewis

“The Great Divorce” by C.S. Lewis chronicles the events that take place after a busload of souls from Hell are taken on a ride to Heaven, where they are a given a chance to explore the greatness that is there, then decide whether or not they want to stay there or return to Hell. What the reader will be surprised to find out is that most of these souls that Lewis refers to as “Ghosts,” choose to return to Hell instead of stay in Heaven. As George MacDonald, explained to the narrator in chapter nine, “The “damned” remain in Hell because they are too closed-minded: “There is always something they insist on keeping even at the price of misery. There is always something they prefer to joy” (71). This turns out to be one the main ideas of the novel, showing that the damned need to want to achieve salvation and happiness in Heaven; if they prefer to “reign in Hell

Beginning with her researching on the internet about quadriplegics. Louisa would have never touched a computer or would have even gone to the library before she met Will. He also inspired her to go to college to pursue her fashion. Towards the end, on their vacation in Mauritius Will dares her to do things she would have never done, like scuba diving and wind surfing. He was opening up a new world for her. “I’ve watched you these six months becoming a whole different person, someone who is only just beginning to see her possibilities” (Moyes 325). All this time while she was trying to change his life he was changing

Grieving is a process the human mind goes through to stay healthy through a large loss. According to the American Psychology Association “Coping with the loss of a close friend or family member may be one of the hardest challenges that many of us face. When we lose a spouse, sibling or parent our grief can be particularly intense. Loss is understood as a natural part of life, but we can still be overcome by shock and confusion, leading to prolonged periods of sadness or depression. The sadness typically diminishes in intensity as time passes, but grieving is an important process in order to overcome these feelings and continue to embrace the time you had with your loved one.” The argument could even be made that grief is part of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs (See Below), which is a pyramid shaped diagram used to explain the basic needs of humanity. In a brief explanation Simple Psychology puts is simply, “Maslow wanted to understand what motivates people. He believed that people possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires. Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfill the next one, and so on… This five stage model can be divided into basic (or deficiency) needs (e.g. physiological, safety,

I believe the purpose of a memoir of mourning, such as a grief diary serves as a way for the writer to express their feelings, and come to terms with the loss of a loved one. In the book A Grief Observed, by C.S Lewis, he had recently lost his wife to cancer, and took the time to create a memoir including all of his thoughts and emotions all while dealing with the recent tragedy. Sometimes writing thoughts down can help you clear your mind, and decrease your stress, so it probably helped him emotionally. Also, this book could serve as a tool to help readers discover their own grief and emotions.

As I read this prompt, I remembered my experience as a co-leader of a Christian cell group called Caregroup. One of the members was not then a full Christian; he was interested in the Christian teachings, but since he was a skeptical person, some teachings did not make sense to him. He had some unresolved questions about the teachings.

Do you ever tire of reading stories were the good guys always win? If so, The Screwtape Letters is the book to read. C.S. Lewis portrays his “good guy” as a demon named Screwtape who has a young apprentice named Wormwood. In the story, Wormwood has the task of tempting “The Patient” and making sure that he goes to Hell. Throughout the book, Screwtape tries to advise Wormwood on how to tempt successfully. All is going well for Wormwood until “The Patient” becomes a Christian and turns his life over to the “Enemy”. Screwtape initially tells Wormwood that all will be okay and explains to him that it can be a simple fix. Unfortunately for Wormwood, things do not turn out to be so simple and ultimately Wormwood fails to ensure “The Patient’s” eternal damnation. The punishment for the apprentice was to become Screwtape’s dinner. Although one can be distracted by the intriguing plotline, there are many things that can be found throughout the story. To name some extracurricular items that can be found: Anthropology, bibliology, Christology, theology, and soteriology.

Looking at C. S. Lewis’s writings, the diligent will notice many biblically incorrect facts and doctrines that may lead the unsaved or young Christians astray from the truth. This stated, many critics say the twisting of these facts proved necessary for an entertaining story. While Mr. Lewis includes a disclaimer at the begging of his books of this nature stating he took creative liberties, numerus times the line between the truth and the fabricated facts remains very fine. These statements beg the question do these books truly benefit or confuse the readers.

     While reading The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis, I encountered a few questions concerning his view on Ethical Innovation and the dilemma conditioners face. It was a difficult book with many ideas that didn’t come completely clear to me at times.

In Charlie Watson’s enlightening book, When There Are No Words, he guides the reader through the psychological and physical torment of grief through the story of his own unimaginable loss of his two sons who died far before their time. In the fifth chapter, Watson details one of the most common physical phenomenon of grief that anyone who has ever lost someone dear to them will understand all too well; Charlie described this physical hardship as “two cement blocks, ready to wear.” He starts by describing the, “cement blocks’” gravity, that these cement blocks are positioned exactly to drive its weight and anguish into every crevice that can hurt. They push in on every part of your body; your lungs feel like they can not fully receive the air

Literary critic Patricia Waugh asserted, “Psychoanalytic literary criticism does not constitute a unified field....However, all variants endorse, at least to a certain degree, the idea that literature is fundamentally entwined with the psyche.” William Faulkner’s novel, As I Lay Dying, institutes elements of the psych which allow the text to be analyzed through the psychoanalytic lens. There are several events that go unexplained in the novel and they all seem to revolve around Darl; the psychoanalytic lens can explicitly be applied to his character to best illuminate his spontaneous behaviors and asses his abrupt actions.

So without God, rational thought is impossible. To this point we’ve briefly explained the ungodly thinking fallacy. Beyond that, C. S. Lewis had some things to say about the futility of reasoning without God:

Lewis starts off the book with his definition of grief. He compares grief to the feeling of fear, but other times it feels like being drunk or concussed like there is an invisible barrier between him and the world. While, at first, this may seem like a strange definition, it is actually incredibly accurate. When going through a loss, one seems to feel separated from the rest of the world and feeling like no one else could possibly know what you are going through, much like being in an alternate state. The fear part of Lewis’ definition is also legitimate. One feels fear when dealing with a loss because they are, in fact, afraid. They are afraid of how they are going to have to continue life without the one that they lost. Although one can

Grief is keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; and sharp sorrow. Grief is something that can take a massive toll on one’s mental health and actions. It can change a person’s thinking and what they do. In “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, grief is shown in many ways but with each person who is grieving they begin to act differently than they normally would.

I do believe that grief is a powerful emotion to endure. Especially when we experience an unexpected death of a loved one or a friend it is very hard to take. The death of someone is the most painful and tragic emotion a person can feel. This pain feels like a knife is introduced into your chest. Your heart is broken into pieces and your body feels like had been struck by electricity. The world keeps turning, but you want it to stop. You wish to go back, but it is impossible. There is no meaning for your life to continue.

Grief is a heavy subject to talk about, however, it is one of those things that we will all experience within our lifetime. We experience grief not only through the loss of someone but will also experience it through life transitions. Whether that be parents going through empty nesting to becoming parents for the first time or moving to a new city or getting a new job. As you can see bereavement is more complex than we would like it to be and so is the healing process that comes after it. Grieving reminds us that we might not go back to our old life but instead it means we must learn to live with what has become dissimilar. It is easy to see that as future MFTs, understanding bereavement is an unavoidable subject, which we all should