C.S. Lewis & Dorothy Day

November 29, 2012

Dorothy Day died this day in 1980.

C.S. Lewis was born this day in 1898, one year after Dorothy’s birth.

In fact, both writers were born in November and both died in November- Day at 83 and Lewis a week shy of 65. 

Both struggled with faith in their early lives before passionately embracing and promoting Christianity. 

And both came to similar conclusions about the essence of living out that Christian faith:

C.S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity 

The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. 

Dorothy Day, from On Pilgrimage

 ...And the burden gets too heavy; there are too many of them; my love is too small; I even feel with terror, “I have no love in my heart; I have nothing to give them.” And yet I have to pretend I have. But strange and wonderful, the make-believe becomes true. If you will to love someone, you soon do…It depends on how hard you try... my whole life so far, my experience has been that our failures have been not to love enough.

p.s. This story of Dorothy's canonization process was featured on Weekend Edition Saturday, 12/1: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/01/166291580/catholic-hero-dorothy-days-road-to-sainthood