Saturday Good Reads

This was the week a pope resigned – the first time in almost 600 years.

It put me (and others) in mind of leadership.

U.K. PR/Social media guru Neville Hobson took a look at leadership principles from General Electric – and found six dimensions of leadership that (interestingly enough) apply to social media as well.

My friend Jim Wood (aka the Shrinking Camel) posted on determining your spiritual leadership profile.

Michelle DeRusha at Graceful went in another direction – and suggested looking at the pope’s announcement by listening with the eyes of your heart.

My friend J of India (at Neither Use Nor Ornament) has been posting a series of photos that could illustrate the problems of leadership – being between a rock and a hard place. My favorite (so far) is #2.

It was also the week for Valentine’s Day, and I think my favorite post on the subject was David Rupert’s “Love is like a fun-house mirror.”

I also saw a number of posts about what it’s like not having someone to send a valentine to. The word, in short, is lonely. “Passing Time” by pianist Paul Cardell captures that beautifully:

Photograph at top by George Hodan via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

It's Ludicrous

The ludicrous intruded,
suddenly,
with the swiftness
of a lightning strike,
a jagged eruption
of the other into the now,
warping the woof of time.
Marble gods cracked;
the curtain tore. Clearly
it was something only
Christians could believe
(just ask Hitchens).

Dedicated to Michelle DeRusha*

Led by Jason Stasyszen and Sarah Salter, we’ve been discussing Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Today’s discussion is on the chapter entitled “The Perfect Penitent,” and in it Lewis perfectly describes the atonement, so perfectly, in fact, that I was left rather stunned after reading it.

Here’s some of what he said:

“We believe that the death of Christ is just that point in history at which something absolutely unimaginable from outside shows through into our own world…the inconceivable, the uncreated, the thing from beyond nature, striking down into nature like lightning…”

“We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. This is what has to be believed.”

I wanted to write something intelligent and polished and erudite and perhaps even learned, but I found myself at a complete loss at the simplicity and directness of Lewis' words. Instead, I used the form of a poem to write what I had read, what I had understood. It still falls short.


To see more posts on this chapter of Mere Christianity, please visit Sarah Salter at Living Between the Lines.

This poem is dedicated to Michelle DeRusha. If you make a donation to The High Calling during the month of May, I've committed to dedicate a poem to you. Just let me know via the comment box or an email that you made a donation (not the amount).