Day 9: Start Small (31st July)

 

The Reading Today

• Daily Theme: The Necessity of Forgiveness
• Source Material: Mere Christianity

My Reflection

Today’s excerpt continues on the theme of forgiveness. In this passage, Lewis explicitly reminds us of a central Christian doctrine: if we do not forgive others, we ourselves will not be forgiven. While I understand this principle and the serious personal challenges it presents, it got me thinking about something Lewis doesn't explicitly address here—the notion of self-forgiveness.

Forgiving others is usually part of a much bigger picture, but I believe it is intimately tied to forgiving oneself. In any disagreement, there are two sides. Each party views their own perspective as the "truth," and true resolution requires both sides to be willing to listen. I was reminded of a well-known quote by Adam Grant.

"Argue like you're right, listen like you're wrong."

This feels like a crucial key to mediation and genuine reconciliation.

There have been many times in my life where I felt like the "aggrieved" party and stubbornly closed my ears, wanting only for the other person to admit their failings and apologise. But as the years go by, wisdom comes at a price.

I feel that learning to forgive yourself is that "small start" or practice that allows you to naturally extend forgiveness outward. When we recognise that we are all imperfect beings living in a hostile, imperfect world, the emotional and spiritual weight lifted by both giving and receiving forgiveness transforms our daily interactions entirely.

 

Day 8: This Terrible Duty (30th July)

 

The Reading Today

• Daily Theme: The Command to Forgive
• Source Material: Mere Christianity

My Reflection

Today’s reading required no secondary research or re-reading to understand. I knew instinctively what Christian duty Lewis was discussing, as well as the immense challenges it presents—not just on a global scale, but right in our personal lives.

When Lewis speaks of "enemies," he uses the word in its broadest sense. It applies to countries at war, but also to those closer to home: people we have fallen out with, those we dislike, or those whose behaviour we find impossible to accept. Lewis acknowledges how monstrous this duty can feel, explicitly mentioning how a Pole or a Jew in WWII might feel when asked to forgive the Gestapo. We see this same agonising tension today in conflicts across Ukraine and the Middle East, such as the horrific attacks that sparked the current war between Israel and Hamas.

On a personal level, this resonated deeply. I struggled for years with similar issues regarding my own mother, whose actions and attitudes towards me were incredibly difficult to forgive throughout my childhood and into adulthood. While our issues were never officially resolved before her death, I was eventually able to forgive her in my heart and mind. Doing so brought me a sense of peace and ended what had felt like a never-ending internal battle.

Lewis quotes the Lord’s Prayer to remind us that we are required to forgive others in the exact manner we wish to be forgiven. He concludes with a stark reminder:

"There is no slightest suggestion that we are offered forgiveness on any other terms."

There is no grey area here. Forgiveness is a strict requirement, and it is certainly not for the faint-hearted.

 

Day 7: The Thing Called Selves (29th July)

 

The Reading Today

• Daily Theme: Unconditional Love and Self-Acceptance
• Source Material: Mere Christianity

My Reflection

Today’s passage explores how universal love and compassion actually work in practice. Lewis argues that our affection for ourselves isn't based on having impressive qualities or a flawless character. In fact, we often dislike our own mistakes and flaws, yet we naturally continue to care about our own well-being simply because we are ourselves.

Lewis suggests that divine love operates in this exact same way—loving us despite our shortcomings—and that we are called to extend that same logic outward to others.

Reading this immediately brought to mind the character Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby from Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies. She offers unconditional warmth and care to the water-babies not because they have earned it through good behavior, but simply because she embodies the Golden Rule: treating others with the same inherent care and grace we naturally desire for ourselves.

 

Day 6: Love Your Enemy (28th July)

 

The Reading Today

• Daily Theme: Love Your Enemy
• Source Material: Mere Christianity

My Reflection

Today’s passage was a difficult and confronting read. Lewis tackles the heavy subject of loving our enemies in the context of war, punishment, and justice, writing:

"We may kill if necessary, but we must not hate and enjoy hating. We may punish if necessary, but we must not enjoy it."

I found myself wrestling with several questions while reading this. It raises profound moral dilemmas—particularly for those serving in the armed forces, who must face the conflict of stopping an enemy while attempting to guard their hearts against hatred.

Lewis makes a sharp distinction between emotional affection and moral goodwill. He stresses that loving an enemy does not mean forcing ourselves to feel fond of them or pretending their evil actions are "nice." Instead, it means desiring their ultimate good and reformation, rather than acting out of personal vengeance or malice.

It is a continual internal battle to pursue justice without allowing retribution and hatred to take root within us.

 

Day 5: The Real Test (27th July)

 

The Reading Today

• Daily Theme: The Real Test
• Source Material: Mere Christianity

My Reflection

Today’s passage tackles a frighteningly subtle trap that is all too easy to fall into: the trap of seeing evil everywhere.

Reading this excerpt, I reflected on how reading something dark or negative about our "enemies"—or people we disagree with—sows an insidious seed of suspicion. Lewis points out that once that seed takes root, we stop viewing things fairly. First, we assume the grey areas are black, and eventually, we start suspecting that even the good, white areas are secretly black too.

It becomes a self-fulfilling cycle where we actively look for malice in everything. Ultimately, as Lewis warns, we become trapped in a universe of pure hatred, entirely created by our own distorted perceptions.

 

Day 4: Love the Sinner... (26th July)

 

The Reading Today

• Daily Theme: Love the Sinner...
• Source Material: Mere Christianity

My Reflection

Today’s passage builds directly on yesterday's reading, diving deeper into the famous phrase "hate the sin, but love the sinner."

What struck me most about today's excerpt is Lewis's point about how instinctively we already apply this rule—to ourselves. When I make a mistake, act selfishly, or lose my temper, I might feel deeply ashamed of my behaviour, but I don't suddenly decide that I hate myself as a human being. I automatically separate who I am from what I did.

Yet, when it comes to other people, doing this feels like a constant moral battle. It is so much easier to collapse a person's entire character down to their worst actions or opinions.

Lewis challenges us to apply the exact same instinct we use for ourselves to everyone else: loathing the cruelty or wrongdoing, while still holding out hope for the person underneath to be healed and changed..

 

Day 3: Love Your Neighbour as Yourself (25th July)

 

The Reading Today

• Daily Theme: Love Your Neighbour as Yourself
• Source Material: Mere Christianity

My Reflection

Today’s passage from Mere Christianity tackles one of the most difficult Christian duties: forgiveness and loving our enemies. I wrestled a bit with the complexities here, but one of Lewis’s key observations resonated deeply with me.

Lewis writes:

"Love your neighbour does not mean 'feel fond of him' or 'find him attractive'... I ought to have seen that before, because, of course, you cannot feel fond of a person by trying."

This echoes so many times in my own life where I have struggled and tried in vain to "like" someone whose behaviour or actions I fundamentally disagree with. It is such a relief to realise that love isn't about manufacturing an emotion.

Lewis explores the old aphorism "hate the sin, but not the sinner." He admits that he used to think this was a silly distinction, until he realized he treated himself this way every day. He writes:

"...I do not think myself a nice man, but I know that I am a very nasty one... So apparently I am allowed to loathe and hate some of the things my enemies do."

We can loathe bad actions—both in ourselves and in others—without wishing destruction on the person. True love isn't warm feelings; it is wishing for a person's ultimate good and reformation, no matter how nasty their actions may be. 

Day 2: A Warning or an Encouragement? (July 24th)

The Reading Today

• Daily Theme: A Warning or an Encouragement?
• Source Material: Mere Christianity

My Reflection

I found myself really struggling with some of the ideas in today's passage. Reading Lewis isn't always comfortable, and today was definitely one of those days where I had to pause and wrestle with what was on the page.

Lewis writes a line here that worried me deeply:

"...saddled, by no choice of your own, with some loathsome sexual perversion..."

As a gay man, reading that line hit hard. It’s a stark reminder of the era Lewis was writing in, and seeing oneself framed in that way naturally triggers a sense of defence and hurt.

However, looking past that painful 1940s phrasing, I tried to extract what Lewis was actually attempting to argue about human judgment. What I took from it was the idea that if you come from a background of privilege or natural composure, being "nice" isn't necessarily a massive moral victory—it's just your baseline. Conversely, if your background is of a more deprived, traumatized, or dysfunctional nature, God looks far more favourably on the quiet, hard-fought victories you make, even if the world judges you harshly.

Despite my reservations, I really loved his metaphor of being given a "new machine" in the end—because, to quote Lewis:

"...for you have already learned your driving in a hard school."

Day 1: Out of Action (July 23rd)

Out of Action 23rd July

The Reading Today

• Daily Theme: Out of Action
• Source Material: The Screwtape Letters

My Reflection

I have read The Screwtape Letters a few times over the years. To be completely honest, it has never been my favourite C.S. Lewis book. The upside-down, demonic perspective can feel a bit draining. However, committing to this 365-day journey means giving it another fair go—and today's reading reminded me exactly why Lewis is a master of human nature.

"The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel."