The Sunday After All Saints Day - The Rev. Colette Hammesfahr
John 11:32-44 Theologian and writer C.S. Lewis grew up in a Christian home but lost his faith and rejected Christianity after several traumatic events in his life. At a young age , he grieved tremendously after the death of his mother. At 19, he joined the British Army and fought in WWI. Serving on the front lines in France, he was traumatized by the sight of fellow soldiers being killed, the screams of the wounded, the effect s of trench warfare , and living with the constant threat of death. He could not understand the suffering and pain he both witnessed and felt himself. He questioned how a loving god could allow this kind of pain, and so he became a committed atheist. Later in life, Lewis married a woman named Joy. Just a few years after they were married, Joy got cancer and died. Again, he was str icken with grief. This event convinced him even more of his atheistic views. He kept a journal that he later published called A Grief Observed . In chapter 1, he wrote