TO SHELDON VANAUKEN, who had confessed to Lewis that, in his discouragement over the remoteness of God, he had tried to reject Christ: On how it often seems that God is “playing fast and loose” with us but how God is really the adult or the master to the child or the dog.
27 August 1956
I am very glad . . . to hear that you are re-visiting England. We must have some good and long talks together and perhaps we shall both get high. At the moment the really important thing seems to be that you were brought to realise the impossibility (strict sense) of rejecting Christ. Of course He must often seem to us to be playing fast and loose with us. The adult must seem to mislead the child, and the Master the dog. They misread the signs. Their ignorance and their wishes twist everything. You are so sure you know what the promise promised! And the danger is that when what He means by ‘win’ appears, you will ignore it because it is not what you thought it would be—as He Himself was rejected because He was not like the Messiah the Jews had in mind. But I am, I fancy, repeating things I said before. I look forward very much to our meeting again. God bless you.
• From The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis
• Compiled in Yours, Jack
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