Meditation in a Toolshed

 This essay really makes people think deeper than what they are used to.  I think that C.S. Lewis put a lot of thought into this.  The way that he went about describing everything is really interesting.  His examples were particularly mind-boggling for me.  For starters, I would never have dreamed of how a beam of light can be used to describe the different ways in which we look at things. 

 The whole essay is about looking at things from all angles and perspectives in order to understand them.  I particularly liked the analogy that he made about falling in love.  There were two different angles that you could look at it.  First of all, love was what the man felt for the girl when he talked and interacted with her.  Second, love according to a scientist is just a biological stimulus.  So what is really love?  We have to look at both the science and the experience to make a real definition.  

I also really liked the pain analogy that he described.  Pain to a physiologist is communication between the brain and the body.  However, if he had not really experienced pain, then he would not truly know what it is.  Everyone understands pain having felt it before, but not everyone knows what it truly is.  That is why you need to look at both sides of the equation before solving it.  We must look at something and along it in order to find out the truth.

One thing that puzzles me is where religion fits into all of this.  Religion has its share of facts and experiences, however, where does faith come in?  If you were describing Christianity to a pagan, they might not believe you for their own lack of faith even though you are right.  This means that religion must require more than just knowledge and experience. Also, just because something has science and experience doesn’t make it right.  For example, one religion might have a bit of scientifical support and experienced people, but that does not make it the right religion.