Reclaiming What Is Rightfully His

I was listening to an interview on the radio a few weeks ago. There was a man on there who studied C.S. Lewis and discovered something very interesting about him and the Chronicles of Narnia. Dr. Michael Ward then wrote a book and also publishes a website about the discovery. His interesting thesis is: "The book argues that Lewis secretly based the Chronicles of Narnia on the seven heavens of the medieval cosmos." Lewis, Dr. Ward argues, wanted to reclaim the cosmos for the King. Lewis understood the importance of the heavens to the Medieval scholars and wanted to bring that back from the seculars who stole it. Lewis believed that the planets were 'spiritual symbols of permanent value.' He sought to place emphasis on what is rightfully God's.

What C.S. Lewis attempted to do in Narnia helps bolster my ideas about my passion. I believe that what things that have been taken by this world's spirit must be reclaimed. My passion of government and working to reform it truly is what I want to do. Frustration sets in periodically when I think how one person or a small group of individuals cannot effectively change what is wrong in this country. The Founders separated power so evenly that it slows the potential for corruption and that one bad person can step in and alter the course of our nation for worse. Of course, a George Washington figure could correct the ills of society, but more than often than not, a corrupt person would take the mantle of "reformer." Nevertheless, hope abounds in my heart.

When the pope was in the U.S. he gave a homily in Yankees Stadium. He stated there:

Praying fervently for the coming of the Kingdom also means being constantly
alert for the signs of its presence, and working for its growth in every sector
of society. It means facing the challenges of present and future with confidence
in Christ's victory and a commitment to extending his reign. It means not losing
heart in the face of resistance, adversity and scandal. It means overcoming
every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom
and happiness. It also means rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and
political life, since, as the Second Vatican Council put it, "there is no human
activity - even in secular affairs - which can be withdrawn from God's dominion"
(Lumen Gentium, 36). It means working to enrich American society and culture
with the beauty and truth of the Gospel, and never losing sight of that great
hope which gives meaning and value to all the other hopes which inspire our
lives. (Complete message)

A Christian worldview does not cease to exist whenever we step into the rotunda of the US Capitol. A theologian at my Alma Mater used to say that Christ is not some measuring rod or some pie in the sky ideal. Christ is like a pair of spectacles that we put on. It integrates all that we have read, learned and experienced into a perspective. When we look through our faith, everything is tinted with the cross. We ought to see things according to his Word and according to revelation. Our life's goal is to help usher in the Kingdom of God, and that can be made possible even through the government.

In all aspects of life, we can bring the power of the King. Reclaiming what is rightfully His ought to be our life's ambition and the goal.