The Pilgrim's Regress

Finished reading "The Pilgrim's Regress" by C.S. Lewis tonight.
I really enjoyed the book, and highly recommend it.

It's one person's progression of thoughts and beliefs throughout life, in an allegory form. If you liked Pilgrim's Progress, if you like philosophy, if you like the study of thought, if you like Lewis, if you like to think about life, I think you would like this book.
I agree with Lewis that in general, it was unnecessarily obscure. But it didn't do very much damage to the message.



For those who have read it:
I was struck --finally-- by an understanding of Sweet Desire (I did not grasp the concept until he explained it in the Afterword). When I got it -- Wow -- Everything in life points to God. Anything that calls to us, producing a desire, but then never delivers, points to the greatest desire Fulfiller of all. God has put a longing in our hearts for Himself and for heaven, and it is evidenced everywhere. The far hill that calls to be explored leaves you yearning for the next hill when you arrive. The call of the sea is never abated, for the sea flows on. The call of the wild is not satisfied by your arrival. The desire for love and security is never fully met in humans alone. The desire to be right is never fully achieved. "There's gotta be something more." Every desire we experience points us to God. I knew, somehow, down in my heart, that my desire to hike, adventure, and explore turns my heart toward God. The two are kin. But I hadn't ever seen it in this light. Sweet Desire draws us to God.

I find myself a pretty strong "Northerner." Lewis states in the Afterword that [for a Southerner] "every feeling is justified by the mere fact that it is felt: for a Northerner, ever feeling on the same ground is suspect." (p. 206) Indeed, I find that when a feeling (often, any feeling) arises that calls for emotional reaction, the ready solution is to whip it and beat it until it is gone. Discipline, dedication, and defiance are the ready men-at-arms. "Weakness," potential instability, and an open heart can easily be crushed into subjection. I think at some points in my travels, I have seen Mania in the distance.

God, would that you send Vertue south to catch fire!