C.S. Lewis at Westminster Abbey: A Roundup of Links

The C.S. Lewis Symposium and the Poet's Corner dedication at Westminster were events that enriched my mind and challenged my soul in the best sort of way. The symposium was a feast of thought, and the celebration of Lewis' life at the dedication offered an atmosphere of goodness, truth, and beauty that made me hunger for those things with even more urgency than usual. The whole thing was the kind of festal, outer experience that turns your eye inward at the end and makes you wonder if you have what it takes to live with such vibrancy yourself. So, I've rounded up a list of links, recordings, and posts to give you a taste of those grand events. Be warned. Great goodness and beauty always pose a challenge the the soul. You may not escape unchanged.

So. To begin with the grandest, if you want to listen to the full recording of the service on the great day itself, go here.

For a PDF of the service program (definitely worth a good read, I kept mine for further contemplation) go here.

From the C.S. Lewis symposium the day before, here's a link to the audio recording of Malcolm Guite's marvelous talk on imagination in Lewis' writing: Telling the Truth Through Imaginative Fiction

And another link to Alistair McGrath's lively talk on Lewis' grasp of reason: Telling the Truth Through Rational Argument

And here's a recording of the C.S. Lewis panel discussion that evening, a fascinating conversation that went many different directions: C.S. Lewis Panel Discussion

If you want to read some really lovely blog contemplations on this event, I submit these for your perusal:

C.S. Lewis' 50th: A Fireside View, by my lovely friend Lancia.

A Report from the C.S. Lewis Memorial Service, by Holly Ordway, chair of the apologetics department at HBU (where they have an emphasis on imaginative apologetics that is rather exciting).

C.S. Lewis' Memorial Service, by Jeanette Sears, a writer and speaker with a special interest in C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Dorothy Sayers. (I heard her talk at the C.S. Lewis society a couple of years ago and greatly enjoyed what she had to say.)

Cheers!