Thank for the feedback,
Charles

But I also think that you are onto something else in CSL’s theology: As a Reformed Christian, I do think Lewis is a bit optimistic about the longing that we all could follow if we simply listened closely enough. But Lewis doesn’t mean the longing is enough to save us. He just means that when we sigh deeply at the beauty in a piece of music, a work or art, or a landscape, it’s really actually because we’re longing for Heaven — God has let a bit of Heaven slip through there — even if/when we don’t know it.

Thanks!

Thanks for the prayer support, Charles. God, in his omniscience, foresaw your prayers re: my spindly arms and legs and answered them – about twelve years ago. The issue requiring real faith is our three futons…

Thanks for the clarifying comments on Lewis. I think you’re right, we probably aren’t that far apart. Maybe I would argue that the longing for a new and better world follows more closely (sometimes preceding, even?) the awareness of the need for personal rescue. Then again, maybe I would just let it rest.

(Ever wonder why we handle our debates in passive voice?)

I think what I’m getting at is that while every man doesn’t necessarily know that they need another country, they all know that they need a Savior. The longing for heaven comes with additional revelation (which many cultures have in spades)

And having said all that and thinking about what you said some more, I’m not sure that we disagree (or if we do, it’s a tiny gulf that separates us)

Anyway, thanks for the read. Good luck with your move (I have prayed mightily about the weight of your bureau and your other bulky belongings. Also about your spindly girly-man arms and legs. God is gracious and there are company’s that do this stuff for money, you know? )

I’ll grant, instantly, that depravity, not Joy, is the main roadway (or the main obstacle, both at once) to the gospel. But we also know that God “has set eternity in the hearts of men” and I believe that at some level everyone knows, or at least suspects, that something is deeply wrong with this world. By the grace of God, there are moments when an inexpressible longing for something better leaks in… In Acts, I can speculate that part of Paul’s argument re: the “unknown God” was an appeal to the instinctive knowledge the Greeks possessed that the most basic ingredient in life was still missing. Their petty idols, with their interesting stories and influence on livestock, melted into insignificance when the Creator of Heaven and Earth walked on stage. That’s the first passage that springs to mind, but there are others.

I guess what I’m saying is that Joy appears, to me, to be a biblically-endorsed thread that winds heavenward. Joy and Sin work together to lead men to repentance, perhaps through ommission and commission. There may be a need to nuance here: We’re dying because of our depravity, not our Sehnsucht – but certainly Joy is a clue to holiness. It’s an elusive path, but it’s there.