Kennedy and Lewis – Remembering Two Great Men
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of two men who greatly influenced the world and our individual lives…President John F. Kennedy and celebrated author, C.S. Lewis.A generation of baby boomers all remember “where they were when Kennedy was shot”. The terrible and shocking event that changed our lives and our nation happened 50 years ago today. Yet as big and powerful as that single tragic event was in both our individual and collective lives, it was the life, more than the death of John Kennedy that made the real impact on us. JFK challenged us to be our best, to give our all and most importantly to “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. If we all lived up to that challenge today how different our country and our world would be.
C.S. Lewis happened to have died the same day as John Kennedy did…also 50 years ago today. His death was nearly overlooked, certainly was overshadowed by the shocking death of JFK. But like Kennedy, it was the life and the words of C.S.Lewis that made, and are still making today, a great impact.
He was a teaching professor at both Cambridge and Oxford universities, and an author who has delighted adults and children alike with such works as The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy. As a young man he became an atheist then later in his thirties he became a devout Christian and fought and struggled his way into a relationship with God as he puts it “kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting my eyes in every direction for a chance to escape.” It was after this turn in his heart towards Christ that he gave us some of his most profound thoughts in his works entitled Mere Christianity, Miracles, The Problem of Pain and Surprised By Joy.
If you’ve not read any of his wonderful books they are well worth your time. He was both very well spoken and outspoken. Here are some of his most famous quotes:
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
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Provocative thinking from from CS Lewis. He also wrote a little known book on God in the universe. He said God would not want us to meet aliens from space. They might be sinless and we would infect them with the sin we received after the Fall. Interesting thought, those little green men without sin.