I’m not going to come in with guns blazing. I want to see hearts changed – nothing more, and nothing less.

Lewis certainly had a vendetta against a certain kind of idolatry and I do love his take on it. A. W. Tozer has some similar thoughts with regard to the mechanisms of the lie and its propensity to take root through a false sense of charity. The idol is, as Tozer would put it, the product of an inward Gaze of The Soul. When the Soul’s Gaze is cast up itself we will find the antithesis to Meekness (πραϋς), and Meekness is what brings Rest to the Soul. (For more on this concept read A. W. Tozer’s chapter called Meekness and Rest from The Pursuit of God).

It is important to read inquisitively asking, “How am I subject to this myself?” or “How does Satan manifest this same idol in my life but in another way?” The one who first reacts saying this idol doesn’t apply to them would, upon honest examination, find it sticking to them like tar, and protruding from their eye like a log. They are enveloped by the idol for from it springs their aversion to it. The lie Lewis speaks of is a self-preserving one. It throws the victim’s gaze away from itself just as they begin to take notice of its presence in their lives. Aversion to the notion of infection is proof of infection. Every one of us is totally depraved and while some are more predisposed than others to certain lies we all are culpable to some degree. Read on:

Mrs. Fidget very often said that she lived for her family.  And it was not untrue.  Everyone in the neighborhood knew it.  “She lives for her family,” they said; “what a wife and mother!”  She did all the washing; true, she did it badly, and they could have afforded to send it out to a laundry, and they frequently begged her not to do it.  But she did.  There was always a hot lunch for anyone who was at home and always a hot meal at night (even in midsummer).  They implored her not to provide this.  They protested almost with tears in their eyes (and with truth) that they liked cold meals.  It made no difference.  She was living for her family.  She always sat up to “welcome” you home if you were out late at night; two or three in the morning, it made no odds; you would always find the frail, pale, weary face awaiting you like a silent accusation.  Which meant of course that you couldn’t with any decency go out very often.  She was always making things too; being in her own estimation (I’m no judge myself) an excellent amateur dressmaker and a great knitter.  And of course, unless you were a heartless brute, you had to wear the things.  (The Vicar tells me that, since her death, the contributions of that family alone to the “sales of work” outweigh those of all his other parishioners put together.)  And then her care for their health!  She bore the whole burden of that daughter’s “delicacy” alone.  The Doctor- an old friend, and it was not being done on National Health- was never allowed to discuss matters with his patient.  After the briefest examination of her, he was taken into another room by the mother.  The girl was to have no worries, no responsibility for her own health.  Only loving care, caress, special foods, horrible tonic wines, and breakfast in bed.  For Mrs. Fidget, as she so often said, would “work her fingers to the bone” for her family.  They couldn’t stop her.  Nor could they- being decent people- quietly sit still and watch her do it.  They had to help.  Indeed they were always having to help.  That is, they did things for her to help her do things for them which they didn’t want done.  As for the dear dog, it was to her, she said, “Just like one of the children.”  It was in fact, as like one of them as she could make it.  But since it had no scruples it got on rather better than they, and though vetted, dieted and guarded within an inch of its life, contrived sometimes to reach the dustbin or the dog next door.

The Vicar says Mrs. Fidget is now at rest.  Let us hope she is.  What’s quite certain is that her family are.

So there it is. Let us find rest in meekness (πραϋς) and take the cheer that comes with knowing Christ from mere conception to reality. We are loved. Let us not only love unconditionally but also, and perhaps more importantly, receive love unconditionally. May you find rest, for it is offered freely and right before you. Just ask and be willing to receive.

Father, my prayer is no longer that I may know Your will for my life; rather it is that I may walk in the path of Your Meekness each day. My prayer is to hear Your voice and see Your face for this is all I could want. It is all that I can truly pursue. Your Will shall be worked out in the fullness of time for it is not my answer to have. I will not wait to pursue You until I have that answer, I will pursue You regardless. I know Your Will is done when I come to You, even of I am blind to it.