Lewis always manages to baffle my thoughts, yet interest and captivate my attention in his numerous analogies that progressively unfold the definition of which he hopes to clarify. Is glory directly correlated with fame, or may it be better assembled with a representation of luminosity? This is roughly what Lewis pursues to determine through critical and ardent analysis of the human understanding of glory. We are conditioned throughout our childhood to hold on to an objective goal juxtaposition with our action. Our education system for example. We are persistently cultivated in childhood education to achieve certain marks in accordance to a previously written grading scale, which measures our intelligence and our ability to learn. Inevitably, as we are forced to be held accountable against the grading system, the grading system then becomes the ultimate goal. Is this a healthy approach to education? No. The purpose of education is to learn, inspire, provoke imagination, experience, promote critical thinking, and ultimately, to encourage the aspirations of our young generations. The objectified, tangible, and immediate evidence of learn knowledge against a set mark hinders the young generations capability to do the latter. They are limited to a specific mark, which if not attained, they become despised, ruled as unintelligent, and therefore, left behind. My apologies, I did not mean for this to become a written critique on the current education system.
In continuation of this topical discussion Lewis ascribes the notion of mercenary behavior to our conditioned thinking. We're taught to seek the reward of meeting the highest marks, as opposed to being inspired to think, be critical, and imagine. Glory defined in this sense is the immediate reward, acceptance, acknowledgement and fame that is subsequent to reaching the mark. This is explicitly what glory has become in the Christian context. Humanity desirably seeks the acceptance, acknowledgment and fame among their peers. What good is it to attain such goals, aspirations, and good without people rewarding you with the gift of praise and glory. We won't explicitly say it, but we indelibly seek to be recognized. We have become mercenary for the praise and glory of our peers, when we are to be seeking the satisfaction of our God. What good is it to do good in the name of the Lord, yet be willing to take credit when people desire to praise your for it. It seems then that the "good" has been lost, the only good that remains is the previous objective action that had taken place.
Our fundamental purpose as followers of Christ should be, specifically, the longing to hear "Well done, thy good and faithful servant" at the end of the age. This is solely the greatest glory that can be attained, and this is the glory that Lewis embarks to define. The luminosity of our achievements, good works, goals, and rewards should be reflected upon the name of Jesus Christ. The definition of glory lies in the hands of the Father, not in the praise of man. It is our sinful, self-seeking, and egotistic behavior that blinds us to this reality, as we desperately hope to attain status, appreciation, and acknowledgement in a self-pleasing world.
To interject a side note, Lewis persistently advocates subjective thought throughout his exposition, and this can further be seen in his work entitled The Abolition of Man. The desire and attempt of the poet to depict meaning through the form of poetry, subjectivity, nostalgia, metaphor, allusions, abstractions and allegory unravels meaning that otherwise could not have been tapped into. It allows for the reader and listener to hear meaning within the beats of reality. Poetry breaks apart the definition of reality challenging true meaning. Our generation has become satisfied with Greek philosophy, logic, realism, and and rationalism. We are forced into this particular categorical thought, because otherwise, the world cannot relate as they continue to be satisfied by pure logic. Don't get me wrong, logical and rational systematic approaches to Theology and Philosophy are of great importance, however, we have jettisoned the reflectiveness of poetry and imagination as aids for interpretation and thinking. Our minds have become enthralled with the philosophy of the Greeks, as our imaginations have become numbed. The gift of imagination taps into new realities, unforeseen beauties, and intricacies, that otherwise logic leaves us empty-handed.
