Surprised by Joy

We came to Oxford, England, to visit friends posted here to teach by Abilene Christian University.  Darlene has read the Narnia stories by C. S. Lewis to all the street kids in our Kamulu program.  And this year we took all the kids and team to see Prince Caspian because two young girls in Thousand Oaks, California, gave their earnings and allowance and money from recycling to Made in the Streets so we could do something with the kids.  It was a great experience -- 75 of us went to the theater in Nairobi on a day when they gave away hot dogs, popcorn and a soda with the price of admission.  The kids loved it, and Francis Wahome told us afterwards that he did not drop even one grain of popcorn but ate it all.

We had no idea we would get to see all the C. S. Lewis memories.  Mel and Jan Hailey took us on a walking tour of Oxford.  We walked down to Magdalen College where Lewis taught.  And we went to his house and walked around the little lake and wildlife trail where he often walked, which must have been his inspiration for Ransom's walks in Out of the Silent Planet.  And we saw trees there that looked like the Ents in Tolkien's stories (Tolkien was a friend to Lewis).  We walked over to the Trinity Church where Lewis attended and saw his grave in the cemetery.  And finally we went out to eat at his favorite restuarant.  

Needless to say, this was a rich experience.  Lewis influenced me greatly with his wonderful arguments in Mere Christianity about the value of the coming of Christ into the world and about the moral teaching of the Bible.  I saw in That Hideous Strength the necessity of taking action when truth and hope and joy are threatened.  

I feel once again a sense of joy, a sense that I am blessed above all men, a sense that God thinks about me and remembers me and makes a way for me.  

May you find an unexpected joy today,

charles