Will Vaus

Here is the link to the lecture I gave on Sheldon Vanauken: The Man Who Received A Severe Mercy  at the Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, on September 12, 2013: Vanauken Lecture

I am once again enjoying delving into the riches of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. For those who don't know, the Wade is devoted to the study of seven authors and has copious archives related to each one: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield, G. K. Chesterton, George MacDonald, Dorothy Sayers, and Charles Williams. I will be giving a free lecture here, open to the public, on Thursday, September 12. For more information, click here:  Wade Center Lecture on Sheldon Vanauken .

While I've been perusing C. S. Lewis' personal library at the Wade Center this week, I've also come across some of Lewis' favorite quotes from G. K. Chesterton. Here are just a few, underlined in Lewis' copy of  Chesterton's  Orthodoxy : "You can make a story out of a hero among dragons; but not out of a dragon among dragons. The fairy tale discusses what a sane man will do in a mad world. The sober realistic novel of to-day discusses what an essential lunatic will do in a dull world." "Nietzsche started a nonsensical idea that men had once sought as good what we now call evil; if it were so we could not talk of surpassing or even falling short of them. How can you overtake Jones if you walk in the other direction?" "But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun.... It may be that he has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and g...

This week I have been at the Marion E. Wade Center in Wheaton, Illinois doing research for a new book I am writing on the top ten authors and books that influenced C. S. Lewis' vocational attitude and philosophy of life. #1 on that Top Ten list is George MacDonald (pictured above) and his book, Phantastes . As part of my research I have been perusing all the MacDonald books from Lewis' library now part of the collection at the Wade. Here are some of my favorite MacDonald quotes, also favorites of Lewis, that I have come across in my research: From  The Miracles of Our Lord : "God's greatest work has never been done in crowds, but in closets; and when it works out from thence, it is not upon crowds but upon individuals. A crowd is not a divine thing. It is not a body. Its atoms are not members one of another." "The man who prays, in proportion to the purity of his prayer, becomes a spiritual power, a nerve from the divine brain, yea, perhaps a gangl...

On Sunday I head to the midwest for two "Speaking of Jack" book-signings. The first one will be in Indianapolis on Monday, October 24,  7-9 p.m. at  Second Presbyterian Church,  7700 N. Meridian Street, Room 112. This meeting will be with the Central Indiana C. S. Lewis Society. I will be talking about C. S. Lewis' experience of spiritual direction with Father Walter Adams. Then on Saturday, October 29, at 11:15 am I will be speaking and signing books at the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College (pictured above). For more information click here: Wade Center News

On a crisp, clear, autumn Saturday morning, a large crowd gathered at The Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College. We were all there for the love of Narnia. There were children, youth, college students and adults, but I think all of us were children at heart that morning. One little blonde-haired boy (pictured below) told me he could feel snow as he reached into the wardrobe hand-crafted by C. S. Lewis' grandfather. And that morning I too believed with joy.... Once we were all settled in our places I read to the group Lewis' tale of Eustace's undragoning from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader . After the reading I talked for a bit about how Lewis was a lot like Eustace and how he was undragoned at the age of 33 when he came to personal faith in Jesus Christ. After a delightful time of question and answer (with many wise questions asked by children and adults of all ages) I signed copies of my book, The Hidden Story of Narnia . Next, The Hidden Story of Narnia...

Monday, November 3-Wednesday, November 5 I visited the Mecca of C. S. Lewis studies: The Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. The Wade Center has many items of interest to C. S. Lewis fans, like the Lewis family wardrobe crafted by Lewis's grandfather: The Wade Center also houses a number of items of interest to Lewis scholars such as many of the books from Lewis's own library, the majority of Lewis's original letters, and the eleven- volume "Lewis Papers" compiled by C. S. Lewis's brother, Warren. I felt like a kid in a candy shop, not sure which confection to sample first. However, I did spend a good bit of time doing research for a couple of book projects. As always, I found the people of the Wade Center to be most gracious and helpful. My only regret is that I had so little time there. I'd like to go back some time and spend a month!