randomscribbles

A glib saying. When the time comes to you at which you will be forced at last to utter the speech which has lain at the center of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over, you'll not talk about joy of words. I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?"
-from Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

often times, reality is far from appealing. it can be frightening, boring, not to mention a total waste of time. reality doesn't sell unless you put it into some sensational embellished packaging with a pretty face of some tragic teen criminal on the front cover. superficiality reigns over everything since forever, seeping even into our personal mode of daily behavior, often without our consent. i should know; it is in my job description to assign illusory meanings to otherwise meaningless things and beautify dull facts with bells & whistles 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

and so in all these dazzling superficialities, what c.s. lewis said strucked me right to the core. what would happen if i stripped it all, what would i have left? exactly how much of my own nakedness can i really see? what mirror do i see it with?

mr. lewis offered this answer:

""I ended my first book with the word 'no answer.' I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice? Only words, words; to be led out to battle against other words."

i'm still trying to digest, but i guess to me, being aware of the answer means to begin the long process of seeing myself with a clearer mirror.