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C.S. Lewis’s Concept of “Joy”

4 Comments | July 19, 2007 at 8:33 am by mahud
Filed under C.S.Lewis, Sprituality, Christianity

Is anyone familiar with what C.S Lewis terms Joy, or Sehnsucht (German: Longing)? Have you ever experienced it, and what evoked the experience?

I plan on writing a fuller explanation of C.S Lewis’s definition of ‘Joy’ in a future post, for anyone who may be unfamiliar with the concept, and provide a few personal encounters of ‘Joy’, though movies, music and even video games.

But for now I’d like to share a piece of music that invokes (for myself) simultaneously feelings of both pleasure and grief, and a desire for something ‘other’, that is just within my reach, but cannot grasp.

I relate to this song in a big way.

YouTube: Joy Division (Atmosphere)

Joy Division: Atmosphere (lyrics)

Walk in silence,
Don’t walk away, in silence.
See the danger,
Always danger,
Endless talking,
Life rebuilding,
Don’t walk away.

Walk in silence,
Don’t turn away, in silence.
Your confusion,
My illusion,
Worn like a mask of self-hate,
Confronts and then dies.
Don’t walk away.

People like you find it easy,
Naked to see,
Walking on air.
Hunting by the rivers,
Through the streets,
Every corner abandoned too soon,
Set down with due care.
Don’t walk away in silence,
Don’t walk away.

4 Comments (Have your say)

laura

Comment on July 25, 2007 at 3:54 am

When I read C.S. Lewis’s account of joy when he saw the “nature box” his brother had made, I knew exactly what he was talking about. I had a similar experience, although very different, when I was about 11 or 12 that totally defined my spirituality although not my religion.

mahud

Comment on July 27, 2007 at 6:14 am

I instantly knew what he was describing too. At least I think I do…although I might be on the wrong track with this. My experience is not exactly spiritual, but a yearning for the divine. It’s almost a spiritually connective experience, and therefore joyful, but because you can’t quite grasp the object of the joy itself, it also evokes strong feelings of sadness and loss.

I still haven’t written my ‘explanation’ yet, but it’s on my list of things to do

Jackie

Comment on September 28, 2007 at 9:30 am

I experienced this longing/joy while dancing. I belong to a Christian group in Britain called the Northumbria Community; we use a lot of the Celtic saints’ language and poems while worshipping and praising. We also send a team every year to the Glastonbury Festival to dance and pray. The man who runs it, Michael Eavis, is heavily into pagan/Wiccan things, his late wife was a witch. We were dancing in praise of the Lord on a hill overlooking the Festival site a few years ago, and when I came to the move which symbolised entering Heaven (ducking under the linked hands of two of my friends) I was absolutely gripped by a joy, a kind of exulting of the spirit, so strong I could hardly move or speak. I felt that as I physically performed the move, my soul had come before the Lord and was stunned by His beauty; but the rest of me was still stuck behind in my mud body! I’ll never forget that.

mahud

Comment on September 28, 2007 at 12:11 pm

Wow, Jackie, that sounds like an incredible and beautiful experience! Thanks for sharing it

Cernunnos’ Path: Mythology and Paganism Blog

C.S. Lewis’s Concept of “Joy”

YouTube: Joy Division (Atmosphere)

Joy Division: Atmosphere (lyrics)

4 Comments (Have your say)

laura

mahud

Jackie

mahud