Nicole McLellan - "Shadowlands"

I found this film very moving. Previous to taking this class, I was familiar with some of C.S. Lewis’ writings; however, I was very unfamiliar with his biography. I was aware that he endured the death of his wife, but I had no idea who she was or how she died. After viewing this film, I find that I admire C.S. Lewis even more than I did previously. The pain that he endured in his life is unimaginable, and the strength that it would take to endure it is even more unimaginable. I know that people experience pain like this every day, so it’s not necessarily an unusual situation. However, what strikes me about Lewis’ story is his attitude. Many people go through hardships in life, things that cause great pain to them. Often times it seems people allow these hardships to destroy their lives, and they become very bitter or depressed. If they were religious before the hardship, they may develop a feeling of resentment toward God afterward. They may even renounce their religion altogether. It seems that it takes a very different kind of person to endure painful situations in life and yet not allow these events to destroy them or tear them down. Although Lewis did go through a period of mourning, he did not allow the death of his wife to destroy him or take away his joy for life. It did not destroy his faith in God, although it may or may not have damaged it for a while. In his case, life was hard for a while, and quite painful, but it did not end. Lewis retained his joy for life and his faith in God despite very painful and difficult circumstances.

One thing I wanted to mention that I think kind of ties in with this blog is the idea of joy. I used to think that joy was just being happy despite my circumstances. Unfortunately, this left me wondering why I should be happy in a circumstance that is painful. If my life really sucks at the moment, why should I be happy? The definition of joy seemed to make sense, but it still left me without an explanation of why I should have joy. Although I still think that joy is being happy despite my circumstances, I also think that joy comes from an awareness of what I already have. Rather than dwelling on what I don’t have, or what my life is not, I find joy in thinking about what I do have. Also, realizing and accepting what I don’t have sometimes helps me to be thankful for what I do have. I recognize what I don’t have and what my life is not, but I don’t dwell on it. C.S. Lewis knew that he would not have his wife forever, and Joy knew that she would not grow old with Lewis. However, they were happy with the time they did have together. Their awareness of the fact that Joy was going to die soon seemed to make them even more thankful for the time they did have together.