Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed Him. Matthew 20:34
“A cleft has opened in the pitiless walls of the world, and we are invited to follow our great Captain inside. The following Him is, of course, the essential point. That being so, it may be asked what practical use there is in the speculations which I have been indulging. I can think of at least one such use. It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor.
The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.
It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations — these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit — immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn.
We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously — no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner — no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment.”
C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory (New York: HarperCollins, 1980) 45-46. Click on the title to read this classic short essay by Lewis. It’s only twenty pages or so.
For our lives to grasp the sheer gravity of glory and care about the glory of our neighbor, we must live out child-like faith with humility and charity. As Lewis puts it, this does not cause life to become solemn. We must play. But our play, as well as our charity (which is generosity rooted in the unmerited kindness of God) must be real. It must take people and situations seriously.
This post is fitting today because it’s Halloween. It’s a day when people put on costumes. Immortals cover up themselves with something that is not real. Sadly, many wear costumes throughout the year, even some followers of Christ. This flippancy causes many to miss glory altogether. How might it change how you treat your neighbor if you cared about their eternal glory as much as you care about your own?
May our charity flow with a real and costly love from our child-like faith in the living God. May we live in light of the glory that will someday be revealed to us and care for our neighbor’s glory as much as for ours. Let us position ourselves to reflect the compassion and charity of Jesus Christ to the world. It’s real, and it leads people to merriment of the best kind. And it’s far better than any Halloween party!