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."

Why This Matters

It is easy to put classic authors on a pedestal, but blogging through a book day-by-day means confronting the parts that clash with who we are. Lewis’s ultimate point here is actually about radical grace: God doesn't measure us against each other. He measures the effort made with the "raw machinery" we were handed at birth. Those who have had to fight harder through life's friction are learning spiritual endurance in a way "naturally nice" people never have to.

My Action for Today

Today, I am giving myself (and others) grace for the bumpy roads we've had to drive. Instead of judging where someone is starting from, I want to remember the "hard school" they might be driving through.

Reader Question

Have you ever read a classic book by an author you love, only to hit a phrase or idea that deeply troubled you? How did you process it? Let me know in the comments below!