Most people that know me also know that C.S. Lewis’ writings have meant much to me. I read the Chronicles of Narnia as a child, and I started reading his non-fiction in high school. Most of his books deal primarily with Christianity, but he wrote quite a bit on literature. He taught on the English faculty at Oxford and served as a professor of Medieval and Renaissance literature at Cambridge (view related update). As a scholar of mythic and fantastic literature, his comments on myth helped me understand why these types of stories have such a powerful effect on me.

My wife and I participate in a class at church for young couples. The regular teacher asked me to co-teach a series on C.S. Lewis’ book The Four Loves. I found Lewis’ framework helpful in thinking about my own human relationships, so I agreed. I covered three of the loves in my sessions: Affection, Friendship, and Charity. (The fourth love is romantic love.)

• Affection is the love you find between a parent and children, two siblings, or even a dog and a cat. You feel this love towards people who just “happen to be there” — these are not people you have chosen (as you have your friends and lover), and it grows deeper as the relationship grows more familiar and comfortable.
• Friendship is the love you find between people with common hobbies, interests, or passions, people who see the same truth. Friendship is always about something: painting, mythology, skydiving, web design, or dominoes. Lewis believes that friendship is responsible for about half of the happiness we experience in life.
• Romantic Love (Eros) is the feeling commonly known as “being in love”. The two are engrossed with each other. This love does not seek for pleasure or happiness, though it might seem at first to do so. This love seeks primarily for the presence of the beloved: to hold her in your arms or to stare into his eyes — just be together.
• Charity (Agape) is the love given when there is nothing in the recipient that motivates the love or when the recipient is difficult to love. In all our human relationships, there are times when we must give and receive charity — there is something in us all at times that is unlovable. We also exhibit this kind of love when we help people we do not know.

Preparing was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed the experience. Nothing teaches a person as much as preparing to teach others! I hope everyone learned as much from the series as I did. This series renewed in me an interest in teaching. I don’t plan to teach another class at church, but I will actively pursue more opportunities to share knowledge about my passions with others in the future.