Moments of Clarity

St. John Chrysostom wrote that when we find ourselves unable to sleep at night, this is a sign from God that something is wrong and we should use our wakefulness as a "period for reflection." He wrote: "So when you cannot sleep, allow the thoughts that lie deepest in your heart to rise up to the surface. Often these thoughts are a reproach, telling you of a sin you have committed or an act of charity you failed to perform."

I had a friend who always attested that her best ideas came to her in the shower. I don't doubt that; my best ideas come to me when I wake up in the middle of the night. It makes sense, actually, because being awake in the middle of the night is kind of like being suspended in time, like being awake somewhere in the Twilight Zone. During sleep, our brains have been getting rid of all the nasty toxic waste from the day before, so we are relatively less foggy, but we are not rushing out of bed to get to work or school; there are no immediate distractions. I really do believe God uses this time to direct our thoughts towards matters of the spiritual life.

So the next time you wake up in the middle of the night, don't fret over trying to get back to sleep. (Here's my chance to incorporate some sleep hygiene techniques I had to squeeze into my brain for Step 1). If you don't fall asleep within 15-30 minutes, go to another room and read, have a light snack, do some quiet activity. And wonder if there is a perhaps a reason God woke you in the middle of the night. Maybe you didn't give Him any time during your busy day and He wants to nudge you awake (literally and figuratively), and tell you something that might be kind of important.

C. S. Lewis and Medicine

The Coptic New Year is quickly approaching, and you might be thinking about some New Year's resolutions. I know I am - I resolve this year to read more. With Step 1 behind me, I no longer feel guilty picking up a good fiction book instead of poring over First Aid.

What to read? It's exciting to discover new authors, but tonight I'm feeling a longing for the warm comfort of known and loved authors. Those who know me know that I am simply obsessed with C. S. Lewis. And it's about time I dedicate a post to this mighty man of mere Christianity. I am by no means a scholar or an authority on C. S. Lewis - just an avid fan, devoted reader, and yes, subscriber to the C. S. Lewis Daily Quotes iPhone app (free!).

I envy those of you who have not yet met C. S. Lewis through his writings - what joy awaits you when you first open one of his books! (and for that momentous occasion I recommend The Four Loves, Mere Christianity, Surprised by Joy, or The Last Battle).

In his collection of essays God in the Dock, particularly in the essays "Miracles," "'Horrid Red Things,'" "Religion and Science," and "The Laws of Nature," Lewis touches upon the subject of the intersection between religion and science. His take on medicine is particularly interesting; consider the following quote from "Miracles:"

"The miracles of healing fall into the same pattern. This is sometimes obscured for us by the somewhat magical view we tend to take of ordinary medicine. The doctors themselves do not take this view. The magic is not in the medicine but in the patient's body. What the doctor does is to stimulate Nature's functions in the body, or to remove hindrances. In a sense, though we speak for convenience of healing a cut, every cut heals itself; no dressing will make skin grow over a cut on a corpse. That same mysterious energy which we call gravitational when it steers the planets and biochemical when it heals a body is the efficient cause of all recoveries, and if God exists, that energy, directly or indirectly, is His. All who are cured are cured by Him, the healer within."

PS: A brief introduction to CS Lewis' writings and a few of my favorites!

Fiction:
1) Chronicles of Narnia. (The Horse and His Boy, The Last Battle are my favorites)
2) Till We Have Faces - For older readers, and the source of my absolute favorite CSL quote: "I know now, Lord, why You utter no answer. You are Yourself the answer. Before Your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice?"

Non-Fiction

1) Mere Christianity - a must-read. Period.
2) The Four Loves - the starting point from which to begin to understand this most crucial of all virtues
3) Surprised by Joy - his autobiography, which chronicles his conversion to Theism.
4) The Abolition of Man - a hard read, but crucial for understanding Lewis' views on mankind and where we are headed
5) God in the Dock - a collection of short essays
6) The Business of Heaven - a daily reader
7) A Grief Observed - starts with the chilling line "No one ever told me that grief felt so much like fear" - a raw account of his grief and questioning of faith, written after his beloved wife's death (cancer).
8) The Weight of Glory - from which comes another favorite quote, "The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things - the beauty, the memory of our own past - are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited."

Are there any other CS Lewis fans out there? Leave some reading recommendations in the comments below!!