Linda the Librarian

All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. ~The Last Battle

When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only person in the world. ~Mere Christianity

When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world. ~Mere Christianity

We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.  ~The Abolition of Man

In our own case we accept excuses too easily, in other people's, we do not accept them easily enough. ~The Weight of Glory

If God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it's like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him. ~The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. ~Essays on Forgiveness

When you are arguing against God you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all. ~Mere Christianity

"You have a traitor there, Aslan,"said the Witch.  Of course everyone present knew that she meant Edmund.  But Edmund had got past thinking about himself after all he'd been through and after the talk he'd had that morning.  He just went on looking at Aslan.  It didn't seem to matter what the Witch said.  ~The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. ~Mere Christianity

Whatever you do, He will make good of it.  But not the good He had prepared if you had obeyed Him. ~Perelandra 

A pleasure is not full grown until it is remembered. ~Out of the Silent Planet

Sometimes when I'm making a cart of children's books up for the page to put away, a book will catch my eye.  I have no little ones at home anymore and I don't have grandchildren yet, so I get to or have to read a book like this on my own.  For this one I should have had a tissue or two at the ready. If your family has recently lost a pet, this was a lovely, peaceful book.  The illustrations inside the book are just as beautiful as the cover.  I found it comforting for myself and I think it would be a great way to help your child to talk about his or her feelings after the loss of a beloved animal.  My favorite part was when the angels call out to your pet they know his name.  When your pet hears the angel's voice it isn't a new voice, it sounds just like yours.  Yes, I'm tearing up writing this!  And now I recommend this book to you. Until next time...

When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place. ~Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C.S. Lewis

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too?  I thought I was the only one."  ~The Problem of Pain

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create).  It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.  ~The Four Loves

While friendship has been by far the chief source of my happiness, acquaintance or general society has always meant little to me, and I cannot quite understand why a man should wish to know more people than he can make real friends of. ~Surprised by Joy

What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.  It also depends on what sort of person you are.  ~The Magician's Nephew

There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer.  Then there's never more than one. ~That Hideous Strength 

There's a reason this book is in the top 10 of the current New York Times Bestsellers List.  It deserves to be.  I don't usually put much stock in lists.  I've found that books on lists typically aren't worth my time.  This one, however, is absolutely worth everyone's time. Ms. Goodwin highlights four presidents, republicans Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt and democrats Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.  The book is divided into three sections.  The first section deals primarily with the people and circumstances that formed each man's character.  The  next section goes over the personal crises that each man dealt with and how they overcame them.  The last section discusses the national crises that shaped each man's presidency.  I noticed common traits among these four men.  Each was a dedicated student in their own way.  The Roosevelts both came from money so their education was more formal, but Lincoln and ...

Imagine yourself as a living house.  God comes in to rebuild that house.  At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing.  He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on:  you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.  But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense.  What on earth is He up to?  The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards.  You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace.  He intends to come and live in it Himself. ~Mere Christianity

Every Christian would agree that a man's spiritual health is exactly proportional to his love for God. ~The Four Loves

It's so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see one. ~Letters to Malcolm Chiefly on Prayer

To love at all is to be vulnerable.  ~The Four Loves

We're not doubting that God will do the best for us; we're wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. ~The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis

I have learned now that while those who speak about one's miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.  ~The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis

No great wisdom can be reached without sacrifice.  ~The Magician's Nephew

Straight tribulation is easier to bear than tribulation which advertises itself as pleasure.  ~Surprised by Joy

The Scotch catechism says that man's chief end is to 'glorify God and enjoy Him forever.'  But we shall then know that these are the same thing.  Fully to enjoy is to glorify.  In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.  ~Reflections on the Psalms

Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.  ~Mere Christianity

If God had granted all the silly prayers I've made in my life, where should I be now?  ~Letters to Malcolm Chiefly on Prayer

November 22 marks the 55th anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis.  I thought maybe we'd have a month of Lewis quotes in honor of his memory and in appreciation for his writings. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison.  'Equality' in Present Concerns