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Explosive Clergy

What’s with pastors? As one, I probably know more than the typical person does about them – and all too often, they disappoint. That’s a bit harsh. Most pastors are pretty selfless. That’s fairly evident in their salaries (if they even receive one). And, trust me, trying to be a faithful leader and peacemaker in any group comprised of human beings, is no easy task. My sainted grandmother, born…

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Anxiety & Nighttime

Everyone experiences some anxiety, but it is only considered a “disorder” when it negatively affects one’s quality of life. Sadly, that level has been reached by nearly twenty percent of Americans. An estimated 19.1% of U.S. adults had an anxiety disorder in the past year. Past year prevalence of any anxiety disorder was higher for females (23.4%) than for males (14.3%). An estimated 31.1% of…

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C.S. Lewis & Medicine

[I originally penned this post in 2020, but delayed its publication due to failing in my attempt to secure permission to receive this perfect illustration. Five years later, AI allowed me to create the image shown above. Since the message remains pertinent, I’m offering my thoughts on this subject today.] Medicines are precious. Right now we are seeing the release of the first antiviral drugs…

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Do Not Read the Bible

How would you respond if the government prohibited you from reading the Holy Scriptures? That was the situation in Great Britain when the Parliament passed the ironically named “Act for the Advancement of True Religion.” Nearly five centuries ago, on May 12, 1543, Britain’s enlightened politicians and bishops determined that people of the “lower sort” needed to be protected from reading and…

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Tesla & the Inklings

I recently uncovered a curious connection between C.S. Lewis and Tesla. (Not the current target of anarchist vandalism, the scientist.) While researching scientists living in the early twentieth century, a photograph of Tesla and his friend Mark Twain ignited my curiosity as to whether or not there might have been any connection between Lewis and Tesla. C.S. Lewis (1898 – 1963) and Nikola Tesla…

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A Curious Papal Funerary Tradition

Several unique items are buried with modern popes when they die. Most, including their vestments, point to their spiritual role as the Bishop of Rome and patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church. One, however, highlights his secular role as the leader of the world’s smallest independent nation state. This post is not about Pope Francis’ reign, or the papacy in general. As C.S. Lewis noted in a…

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C.S. Lewis & Ethnic Ancestry

Most American think C.S. Lewis was English. But that’s not quite right, is it? After all, he was born in Belfast, which is in Northern Ireland. And that makes him Irish, doesn’t it? Well, yes but not exactly. The most accurate description is that C.S. Lewis was Anglo-Irish, with an identity linked to both English and Irish identities. Unfortunately, even that designation is subject to potential…

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Gathering Palms & Preparing for War

The Christian church has just celebrated Palm Sunday, and I recalled one of my favorite memories in preparing for the journey through Holy Week. When I was stationed in Guam a few years ago (in the nineties), I enjoyed the annual tradition of gathering all of the palms to decorate the chapel and provide for worshippers in our very own jungle. Each year the chaplains and chaplain assistants, our…

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C.S. Lewis, the Brothers Grimm & Snow White

You may blame the recent cinematic debacle that is Snow White on a declining Film Studio or the Brothers Grimm, but C.S. Lewis is innocent. That’s not to say the Grimms didn’t have an influence on the great Oxbridge professor, a subject we’ll explore momentarily. But it was the German folk tales published by academics Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm who published the classic fairy tales that Walt Disney…

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Literary Translators Beware

Translating literature from one language to another is a valuable, yet often undervalued, skill. It breaks the linguistic shackles restricting the benefits of good books to those literate in the language in which they are composed. You can think of it this way. Without the dedicated efforts of translators, someone familiar only with English – e.g. as is, sadly, the case with most Americans –…

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C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien & Naomi Mitchison

Have your feelings about particular authors changed over time? C.S. Lewis’ attitude toward the work of prolific novelist Naomi Mitchison illustrates this type of progression. Mitchison’s work possesses a direct link to another Oxford Inkling – J.R.R. Tolkien – whose Fellowship of the Ring she read in proof and favorably reviewed. Brenton Dickieson provides a priceless letter written by Tolkien…

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Must Writing be a Solitary Endeavor?

It’s often said that “writing is a solitary task.” I find that’s only half true. Sure, each individual is responsible for putting the words on the page (AI-cheats aside), but sharing your work with others before publishing it provides amazing dividends. Not only can “other eyes” see flaws we are too close to the piece to recognize, good critiques often include suggestions to make our writing…

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Famous People You’ve Known

How many famous people have you met? Perhaps more than you realize, when you consider how in our expanding and complex world a person can achieve relative fame in a given field, while remaining anonymous to most. Fame is a pretty lame measure of a person’s character or “worth.” Contemporary society lavishes it on “entertainers,” primarily from sports and a variety of media. Even in these highly…

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C.S. Lewis & Emotions

Are you one of those people who pride themselves on not being particularly emotional? Probably not, since the pendulum has swung far in the opposite direction in our current day. (Consider how few clicks a Tik Tok influencer with “flat affect” would get.) Most of us know some people (most commonly men – forgive me the generalization) who keep their emotions under tight rein. Back when I was a…

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Divine Christmas Gifts

I hope everyone was pleased with the gifts they may have received during their Christmas celebrations. As grandparents, my wife and I delighted in the presence of our children and grandchildren as we celebrated together Jesus’ Nativity. Which raises the subject of the proverbial “reason for the season.” My hope is that Mere Inkling’s friends will know the deep and lasting joy of receiving our…

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C.S. Lewis & Mining Minds

When we are young, it is common for us to think of “brain” and “mind” as synonyms. Today, (potentially nefarious) scientific advances are probing the brain, to gain commercially beneficial access to the mind. What would C.S. Lewis think? Perhaps his 1955 comment about commercialism provides a hint? I wish we didn’t live in a world where buying and selling things (especially selling) seems to…

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C.S. Lewis & Gluttony

Gluttony. If you were guilty of committing this sin, would you admit it? How, in fact, can we determine whether we (much less someone else) is a glutton?  And, even if we do fit the description of a glutton, is it all that bad? I mean, it’s not like it is nearly as bad as any of the other so-called “seven deadly sins,” right? Perhaps C.S. Lewis can offer some illumination on this subject? Our…