Friday, September 18, 2015

My father always dispensed wisdom

And often, I in my youth ignored it for the time being.  But much of it stuck, including the little nugget that you should surround yourself with the kind of people you want to be.  It's a little twist on the "You're known by the company you keep" wisdom.

So what brings this up?  I was reading over at John C. Wright's blog, and came across this paragraph:

(I note in passing that back when I was an atheist, neither did my fellow atheists and I ask for help from strangers when we suffered, nor did we volunteer to help, nor was their any help to give. Atheism is a cold universe, and there is only cold comfort there. Even if God should turn out to be a dream and a delusion, sharing even an imaginary warmth is an act of love and goodfellowship is better than the real coldheartedness godlessness produces.)
I think that I would enjoy being around Mr. Wright very much, if only for the education I would receive in the proper use of the English language.

More than that through is the cold hard truth encompassed by that statement up above.  Even if God were a dream instead of a reality, I would much prefer to live with that dream than live in a world where nobody even cares about God.  I've seen those worlds, by the way, and they're not pleasant or pretty places.

3 comments:

Bill in England said...

CS Lewis put it very well in "The Silver Chair" through the character Puddleglum.

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1419727-the-silver-chair

Ragin' Dave said...

I remember reading that back as a kid - scared as all heck that the kids would fall under the witch's spell. I might have to find a copy of that and read it again with adult eyes.

Bill in England said...

I'd recommend it. I re-read all of them in short order about five years back when my eldest first got into reading. They're written with crystal clear English and morality, and I saw so much in them that I'd missed first time.