Tabernacle Choir Broadcasts the Spoken Word from Oxford

By Debra Washburn

World famous British author C.S. Lewis was one of the most influential men of his time and his influence is still felt today. Lloyd Newell visited Lewis’ home, “The Kilns” in Headington just outside of Oxford to film an episode of Music & the Spoken Word. He and the film crew also visited Holy Trinity Church Headington where there is a “Narnia window” and a plaque on the pew where Lewis sat to worship.

C.S. Lewis was the beloved author of the Chronicles of Narnia, but his greatest impact on the world is through his religious writings such as The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, and Mere Christianity. Newell reminds us that Lewis “was an atheist whose faith was rekindled with the help of his close friend and fellow professor, J.R.R. Tolkien.”¹

Lewis called himself a “most reluctant convert to faith”. Newell reminds us that, once Lewis was converted, that he believed with his whole heart, mind and soul. He then spent the rest of his life teaching about God and His love. “The great thing to remember,” said Lewis,” is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not.”²

Lewis wrote: “Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are ‘patches of Godlight’ in the woods of our experience.”³

Lloyd Newell reminds us that “you can’t always predict when a patch of sunlight or a patch of ‘Godlight’ will shine into your life. But you can put yourself in a position to receive that light.”⁴

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