Because He Lives

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know, I know, I know He holds the future.
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

That has always been one of my two favorite hymns. It has been in my head all day along, appropriately so on this Good Friday. I grew up in a church where we only sang hymns. They have all stayed with me and I can sing along to just about any of them. I remember that some of them seemed subdued or heavy, but this hymn in particular has always brought a smile to my face. It gives me a secure feeling, a sense that I have so much to look forward to. All because He lives.

I have been on a C.S. Lewis kick lately. I find myself referring back to his writings about particular subjects that may come up, and I become more and more interested. I can thank Dr. Hatten for this. Dr. Hatten is not only my boss, but one of my closest friends. He is such an excellent example what a Christian man should be. He is a patient doctor, an excellent listener, a loving father, and a supportive husband to his wife of 40+ years, Betty Bly. He has taught me so much. But as of late, we have started to travel a couple of days a week. I joke with him that I feel like I am riding with one of my girlfriends, because he gets an ear full about my relocating drama, things my kids have done or said, what Joey has been up to, and of course whatever was featured on the Today Show that morning. We also get a little office gossip in. But he has a wisdom that comes with time, from both life experiences and just from being an humble, level-headed guy. He has told me bits and pieces of things he has read in books by C.S. Lewis and it always just makes sense. However he explains it, it just makes sense. Now I am not a reader. I enjoy to read, but the last thing I read was "What to Expect when you are expecting", and that was just for a reference. This is not easy reading to me, I have to read a sentence twice sometimes . But once it sinks in, it is very clear. That is how I got interested. I found myself tonight with a little free time on my hands (not a normal occurrence) so started looking up quotes by C.S. Lewis about Easter. This is what i found...

“There is a stage in a child’s life at which it cannot separate the religious from the merely festal character of Christmas or Easter. I have been told of a very small and very devout boy who was heard murmuring to himself on Easter morning a poem of his own composition which began ‘Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen.’ This seems to me, for his age, both admirable poetry and admirable piety. But of course the time will soon come when such a child can no longer effortlessly and spontaneously enjoy that unity. He will become able to distinguish the spiritual from the ritual and festal aspect of Easter; chocolate eggs will no longer seem sacramental. And once he has distinguished he must put one or the other first. If he puts the spiritual first he can still taste something of Easter in the chocolate eggs; if he puts the eggs first they will soon be no more than any other sweetmeat. They will have taken on an independent, and therefore a soon withering, life.” ~C. S. Lewis