The Four Loves

In this inspiring book, C. S. Lewis, the renowned Christian apologist and writer distinguished for his championing of Christian faith, examines the most vital aspect of human existence – Love, in its four key aspects. Insightful and reflective, the work explores the four aspects of human experience put under the term ‘love’, using Greek concepts to explain them. The are:

Storge: The natural affection which we don't really think about. It is the love based on familiarity: between parent and child, fondness for pets, etc.

Philia: The rarest and most insightful, it is friendship that is the least biological, based on camaraderie and mutual respect, built on shared interests and mutual admiration. It is “the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others.”

Eros: Romantic love, connected with desire and intimacy, can lead to a deeper union in marriage.

Agape: Charity/Divine Love: the highest form of love -- selfless, unconditional, altruistic; the ultimate love that seeks the good of others without expectation. While the first three are beautiful, they are flawed and need refinement and balance and ultimately perfected by agape.

Reflecting on the drawbacks in human love, Lewis provides much practical wisdom to help navigate them in terms of agape. All loves risk pain but are worth experiencing as they draw us closer to God. Storge is flawed in that it can be taken for granted or become overly familiar, leading to a lack of appreciation or even contempt. It can become favoritism, treating some family/friends better than others. Over-protectiveness can smother loved ones with care. Philia can be spoiled by pride, exclusivity, formation of cliques and elitism. Eros can become idolatrous, making the beloved the center of your universe. It can become selfish, focused on individual desire rather than the other's good. It can also turn into possessiveness, wanting to own or control the other.

Lewis emphasizes that the problem rests not in loving humans too much but in loving God too little in proportion, which distorts all other affections. He distinguishes between ‘receiving love’ (need-love) and ‘giving love’ (gift-love). Gift-love is agape ("charity”), the crowning glory of all loves, like God's love for humanity, the love that "loves what is not lovable."

Agape is the source and goal, transforming and redeeming all other loves, making them truly healthy by prioritizing God above all. It is “the love that loves what is not lovable, desiring the good of others without expecting anything.” “When sanctified by agape, other loves can lead to deeper union.” It is the ultimate gift-love that makes us vulnerable and risk pain -- the risk necessary for a full life and connection with God. “God, who needs nothing, loves wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. The Creation and the crucifixion express His love which Lewis calls “the diagram of Love Himself, the inventor of all loves.”

He Leadeth Me: An Extraordinary Testament of Faith

Walter J. Ciszek (1973)

Considered a modern spiritual classic and a bestseller translated into several languages, this book is the author’s memoir. Ciszek recalls his choice of vocation -- 23 years as a Jesuit priest -- chiefly his prison life in Stalinist Russia’s labour camps, highlighting his spiritual struggles and resilience in the face of unimaginable suffering. It is the chronicle of an extraordinary spiritual journey where he found strength and solace in faith amidst imprisonment, torture and impoverishment. The spiritual insights he gained about prayer, trust, and surrender to God's will are truly inspiring.

Born in 1904, Ciszek became a Jesuit and volunteered as a missionary in Russia.  It begins in 1939 with his arrival in communist Russia just at the commencement of World War II. Arrested by the Soviet authorities and accused of being a Vatican spy, he faced intense pressure to renounce his faith, endured brutal interrogations, solitary confinement and forced labor in Siberia. In the face of these, Ciszek's faith deepened. He found comfort in prayer and sacraments and shared the faith with his fellow prisoners. He learned to surrender to God's will, trusting in His providence even when it was difficult to understand. These experiences taught him valuable lessons about humility, trust, and the power of prayer. He enjoyed true freedom by abandoning himself to God's plan.

Released in 1963, Ciszek returned to the US and continued to serve as a priest and spiritual guide, inspiring many with his story. The memoir was written with the help of Daniel Flanery. Some poignant moments in the book include: Ciszek's first Mass in prison, where he felt a deep sense of connection with suffering Christ; His struggles with doubt and darkness, and surmounting them through prayer and trust, and the friendships formed with fellow prisoners, who supported him in his faith. The solace of spiritual contemplation bestowed on him an inner serenity upon which he relied amidst the surrounding “arrogance of evil.”  He learned to accept even the inhuman forced labour in the infamous salt mines of Siberia as a labor pleasing to God, and thereby turn adverse forces into a blessing

In one of the profoundly reflective passages in the book, Ciszek says: “For just as surely as man begins to trust in his own abilities, so surely has he taken the first step on the road to ultimate failure. And the greatest grace God can give such a man is to send him a trial he cannot bear with his own powers, and then sustain him with his grace so he may endure to the end and be saved.” This may sum up the central message of the whole book. It also provides a unique, first-hand perspective on life in the Soviet era prison camps, where millions suffered and died.