“Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are
sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to
start life over again from the ground floor - that is the only way out of a ‘hole.’ This process of surrender - this movement full
speed astern - is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely
eating humble pie. It means unlearning
all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into
for thousands of years. It means
undergoing a kind of death. In fact, it
needs a good man to repent. And here's
the catch. Only a bad person needs to repent: only a good person can repent
perfectly. The worse you are the more
you need it and the less you can do it.
The only person who could do it perfectly would be a perfect person -
and he would not need it.”—C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952)
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Quote of the Day (C. S. Lewis, on Lent’s Call to Repentance)
Labels:
ASH WEDNESDAY,
C.S. Lewis,
Christianity,
Lent,
Quote of the Day,
Repentance
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