WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:09.240 Hey, everybody, come on your Story Hours on. 2 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:11.640 Welcome to your Story Hour. 3 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.560 I'm Aunt Niki and I'm Uncle John, and we're here 4 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:21.320 to bring you today's inspiring story. Hello everyone, We're. 5 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:24.079 So glad to be with you today. Uncle John, what 6 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:25.879 can you tell us about today's story? 7 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:28.760 Well, it's about C. S. Lewis, And if you're not 8 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:32.280 familiar with that name, nearly everyone has heard of some 9 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:35.280 of his writings like the Chronicles of Narnia. 10 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:38.600 Oh yes, stories like The Lion, the Witch and the 11 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.200 Wardrobe Nobody can forget, Reap a cheap the Brave Mouse, 12 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:44.359 or Aslaan, the Noble Lion King. 13 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:47.840 Aunt Niki, did you know that for a long time. C. S. 14 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:49.960 Lewis didn't even believe in God? 15 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:50.560 Really? 16 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:54.479 And that's what our story is all about. But before 17 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:56.799 we get started, I want you to know that even 18 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:00.000 though the CS part of his name stands for Clive Staples, 19 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:04.120 everyone called him Jack, a name he gave himself when 20 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:06.879 he was just four years old. So Jack is the 21 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:10.319 name we'll use in this story. We call C. S. 22 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:12.760 Lewis's Journey to Jesus. 23 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:17.400 Jack Lewis grew up in Belfast, Ireland in a house 24 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:20.879 overlooking the hills and the sea. In those days, the 25 00:01:20.920 --> 00:01:25.480 shipyards of Belfast built enormous ships like the Oceanic and Titanic, 26 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.239 and Jack and his big brother Warny could look out 27 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:31.959 and watch them taking shape. Jack's father was a lawyer 28 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:35.400 and his mother was a mathematician. Their house was full 29 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:38.519 of books, and the brothers loved the Irish folk tales. 30 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:41.519 Their nurse Lizzie told them, one of which got them 31 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:44.439 in trouble. One day it stopped raining. 32 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:49.159 Oh look at the ramo, Jack, it's so close. Whoa, 33 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:57.120 come on morning, Let's go outside. I don't see the rainbow. 34 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:00.519 Anymore, but it was here, just over the garden. Remember 35 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:03.719 what Nurse Lizzy said about the pot of gold at 36 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:04.799 the end of the rainbow. 37 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:05.280 Uh huh. 38 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:10.800 That means it's right here. We gotta dig and find it. 39 00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:11.240 Jack. 40 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:14.280 But if we make a hole, Papa will be mad. 41 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:17.439 Not when we find the gold, go get a shovel. 42 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:23.199 The boys dug, and they dug, and they dug until. 43 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:30.719 Warney Jacksie time to wash up for dinner, coming mama. 44 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:36.280 Boys, you're filthy. Get out of those grubby clothes and wash. 45 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:39.520 Up, yes, mama. 46 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:42.639 Once they had washed all the mud from under their fingernails. 47 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:46.840 Jack and Warny sat down for dinner. Moments later, they 48 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:49.439 heard their father's angry shouts. 49 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:56.080 Boys, what's wrong, dear is rascals dug a trap and 50 00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:59.120 caught me. Good look, I'm covered in mud and I 51 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:00.960 nearly broke my briefcase. 52 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:05.719 It wasn't a trap, Papa. You were digging for gold. 53 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:09.520 What you know, Papa, the pot of gold at the 54 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:10.400 end of the rainbow. 55 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:12.400 What kind of a fool do you think I am 56 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:14.199 to believe in such fairy tales? 57 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:17.639 But it's true, Papa, Lizzie told. 58 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:20.159 Us, boy is that's just a fairy tale. There's no 59 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:21.800 gold in our garden. 60 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.400 Jack and warning were punished for digging the hole, but 61 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:28.840 it didn't keep them from escaping to the world of 62 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:32.520 make believe. The brothers spent many happy hours in their 63 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:37.319 playroom in the attic, creating fantastical worlds populated by trains 64 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:42.039 and ships and talking animals. When their cousins came to visit, 65 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:47.159 Jack enthralled them with tales of far away kingdoms, epic battles, 66 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:49.639 and rabbits dressed in shining armor. 67 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:53.319 Jack he didn't finish the story last time about the 68 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:55.639 cat and the castle. 69 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:59.639 Oh, do tell us more? Did the rabbits win the battle? Here? 70 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:03.199 I'm into the wardrobe and I'll tell you what happened. 71 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:06.080 Your mother's first coat feels so socked. 72 00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:09.319 Is it really your coat? Or is it the back 73 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:10.800 of a really hungry cat. 74 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:17.360 When he wasn't entertaining his cousins, Jack loved to look 75 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:20.439 out the window at the distant castle Great Hills. 76 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:25.759 Mornie, how far away are those hills? I don't know, 77 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:27.680 maybe twenty miles. 78 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:33.160 They're so pretty right before sunset, Yeah, green and alive, 79 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.199 like I could just reach out and touch them. 80 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:39.360 But it would take one hundred years to walk that far. 81 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.800 When Mornie went off to boarding school in England, Jack 82 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:47.600 was all alone in their big attic playroom, and then 83 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:50.879 one day his father shared some very sad news. 84 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:52.920 Jack. 85 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:57.560 Your mother has a tumor. She's going to need an operation. 86 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:03.879 Sadly, the surgery wasn't able to save Jack's mother. She 87 00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:06.680 died when he was just nine years old. 88 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:11.160 Jack, we'll that your mother's gone. 89 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:14.319 I'm going to have you join Warney at boarding school 90 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:14.879 in England. 91 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:18.920 Jack, devastated by the loss of his mother, did not 92 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:23.480 enjoy the boarding school. Students were frequently mistreated by the 93 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:29.560 cruel schoolmaster, and before long the school closed. Warney transferred 94 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:33.360 to Malvern, another boarding school in England, while Jack returned 95 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:37.040 to Ireland to attend a school close to home. When 96 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:40.120 he wasn't doing school work, Jack spent his time writing 97 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:43.279 stories and drawing pictures of the made up kingdoms he 98 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:47.000 and Warney had imagined as boys. He missed his brother, 99 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:50.560 and when Warney came home for the holidays, they'd leafed 100 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:54.199 through magazines while Warny regaled Jack with tales of his 101 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:55.240 new boarding school. 102 00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:00.360 It's not all books, Jack, We play games every day, really, yes, 103 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:04.759 And the kids who are good at sports are popular. Well. 104 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:06.759 I can't stand a cricket about for anything. 105 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:07.839 Ah, don't worry. 106 00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:09.800 Just be a good sport and you'll have fun. 107 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:13.720 Fun sports sound about as much fun as a neighborhood dance. 108 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:14.160 Tonight. 109 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:19.920 Hello boys, father, Look at this Rover motorbike. 110 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:24.360 It's got a five hundred cc. You don't need a motorbike, Warny. 111 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:27.160 I've lived fifty years without. 112 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:29.720 Lived forty five years without a telephone too, and now 113 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:30.279 you have one. 114 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:34.560 Well, you're not buying a motorbike with my money. 115 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:37.360 Tell me more about school. 116 00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:37.720 Warny. 117 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:43.079 When he was fourteen, Jack started attending school at Malvern. 118 00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:46.399 The Warning had already moved on and was studying for 119 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:51.000 college entrance exams with William Kirkpatrick, their father's old school headmaster. 120 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:55.360 Jack still looked forward to the new school. However, once 121 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:58.279 he arrived, he discovered that life at Malvern was not 122 00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:02.800 as glorious as he expected. Older students bullied the younger boys, 123 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:04.680 treating them like servants. 124 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:10.560 Louis, my shoes need polish in the school laundry can 125 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:13.839 take care of them for this, my man, you want 126 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:17.160 me to wait an entire day before my shoes get shined? 127 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:19.759 What you think you're too good to help a man out? 128 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:20.920 I have a Greek exam. 129 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:23.959 I know you knew here and you can't help that. 130 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:26.759 You're Irish, but you have to respect your betters if 131 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:27.920 you want to last long here. 132 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:31.360 Well, truth is, I'd really much rather be going in, Lewis. 133 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:35.000 You've got a lot to learn now here. You go. 134 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:39.040 My shoes the muddy from playing rugby, but I'd better 135 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.360 be able to see my reflection when you're done with them. 136 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.680 Yes, sir, that's the spirit, Lewis. 137 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:46.959 You're gonna do just fine. 138 00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:51.360 Despite the upper classmen's words, Jack did not do fine. 139 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.399 Constant bullying made him wish he weren't studying at Malvern. 140 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:00.279 The only place Jack could escape harassment was the campus library. 141 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:06.079 Jack, you done with that paper for Professor Smoogie? 142 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:06.959 I just finished. 143 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:11.240 Well done, my man. You know I really enjoy Smoogie. 144 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:12.120 I didn't think I would. 145 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:12.519 At first. 146 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:16.639 I thought, who actually enjoys reading Latin or Milton? 147 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:18.560 But he really respects you. 148 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:20.920 You know, too bad more of his students don't follow 149 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:21.560 his example. 150 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:26.639 If only, Hey, Jack, you ever think the meanest boys. 151 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:28.160 Are the ones who got picked on the most when 152 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:29.279 they were underclassmen. 153 00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:33.320 That's how the world works, isn't it. Everybody's stepping on 154 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:35.960 somebody else to get to the top, and so it 155 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:39.000 goes on and on and on for eons. You'd think 156 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:41.919 God would have designed a better world than that. If 157 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:45.360 there even is a God, the world is just so cruel. 158 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:50.039 When Jack was home on Easter break, he became friends 159 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:53.879 with his neighbor Arthur. They disagreed on the point of religion. 160 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:57.399 Arthur was a devout Christian and Jack had given up 161 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:01.279 on God. But the friends shared a love of music, literature, 162 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:06.159 and Norse myths. Jack enjoyed their lively conversations and begged 163 00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:08.480 his father not to send him back to Malvern. 164 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:15.080 Well, Jack, Kirkpatrick prepared warny here for the Royal Military College. 165 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:17.840 I suppose I could send you to study with him instead? 166 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:19.279 Could you really? 167 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:21.240 Perhaps it would be for the best. 168 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.519 I'll say, Jack always thinks he's the smartest person in 169 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:26.960 the room. I think, Oh kirk would knock some sense 170 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:27.440 into him. 171 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:30.759 In my day, we didn't call him the Great Knock 172 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:31.399 for nothing. 173 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:36.120 When he was fifteen, Jack traveled by train to Great Bookham, 174 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:39.600 outside London to live with Kirkpatrick and his wife while 175 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:43.840 he prepared for his college entrance exams. Kirkpatrick met him 176 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:44.399 at the station. 177 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:49.279 Well, I've arrived. Now I just need to find the 178 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:52.120 Great Knock. Oh I think I see him? 179 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:53.519 Why Lewis? 180 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:55.799 Yes? But people call me Jack? 181 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:59.120 Good day, sir? Is it is it? 182 00:09:59.240 --> 00:09:59.360 What? 183 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.120 On what basis do you pronounce today? 184 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:03.840 Good? 185 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:05.679 I will? 186 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:08.639 Nothing bad has happened so far. 187 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:11.360 So come on we can discuss as we walk. 188 00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:16.440 You say, nothing bad has happened, Clive, But as we speak, 189 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:18.720 nation after nation is going to war. 190 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:22.240 Turkey has just declared war on Belgium. 191 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:25.440 Now what business does Turkey have with Belgium? 192 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:27.120 I don't know. 193 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:30.159 And Great Britain has been at war nearly a month now. 194 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:33.360 No doubt your brother will be called up for military 195 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:34.039 service soon. 196 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:36.200 Will that be a good day? 197 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:36.720 No? 198 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:39.639 But I suppose it's a matter of how things turn out. 199 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:41.279 All's well, that ends well. 200 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:44.600 If that's the case, we're surely getting ahead of ourselves, 201 00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:46.840 aren't we. 202 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:48.120 Well we've arrived at home. 203 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:53.559 Kirkpatrick began tutoring Jack right away and insisted on using 204 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:55.639 his given name Clive. 205 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:59.600 Will begin by reading the Iliad by Homer in the 206 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:01.519 original no Ionic Greek. 207 00:11:02.840 --> 00:11:07.039 Jack listened in astonishment as Kirkpatrick read the first hundred 208 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:11.159 lines of the ancient poem. Then Kirkpatrick assigned him to 209 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:14.919 study the vocabulary on his own. Each day, they worked 210 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:18.360 a little bit further through the poem, and Jack understood 211 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:21.720 more and more. Once he had a good understanding of 212 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:26.039 ancient Greek, they added Latin texts, then French, and German 213 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:30.600 and Italian. Jack studied in the morning, had afternoons free 214 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:34.399 to explore the countryside and hit the books again every evening. 215 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:39.879 Kirkpatrick was an exacting instructor, and Jack animatedly shared his 216 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:42.600 impressions of the man with his friend Arthur when he 217 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:43.600 was home on break. 218 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.759 So Kirk won't let you say a single word without 219 00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:49.840 dissecting like a peach. 220 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:55.279 Yes, if I say those brutal charmans, he'll shout ward. 221 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:57.360 A brutism animal? 222 00:11:57.919 --> 00:11:59.039 What animal was? 223 00:11:59.080 --> 00:11:59.279 Ever? 224 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:02.279 So cruel and heartless as a single human being. 225 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:05.159 That's one way to look at things. 226 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:07.720 Oh, he does make me think, and not just me. 227 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.519 He treats other people like that. 228 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:09.960 Oh. 229 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:13.240 Yes, you should have seen when his wife's friends came 230 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:17.639 over to playbridge. There he is surrounded by old women 231 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:20.320 saying what do you mean by that? 232 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:22.679 What a way to view the world. 233 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:26.000 The thing is, Kirk only believes in what he can 234 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:28.879 see in touch. That's why he doesn't believe in God. 235 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:33.480 God can't be seen. But Arthur, don't you think there 236 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:35.840 must be more to the world than what meets the eye? 237 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:39.559 What do you mean take literature? Is it beauty any 238 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:42.480 less real than the ground we stand on? Aren't there 239 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:44.279 things we can only feel with our. 240 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:46.200 Heart, like peace and joy? 241 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:46.679 Yes? 242 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:51.480 Exactly. The pity is everything that makes life worth living 243 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:54.120 is invisible, and what I can reach out in touch 244 00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:55.840 is meaningless. 245 00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:59.840 You sound like the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. 246 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:04.159 Boys and Girls will be right back to the story. 247 00:13:04.279 --> 00:13:06.759 But first I was just thinking about something. 248 00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:09.399 Oh, and what were you thinking about, Aunt Nikki. 249 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:12.759 About the name of this story. C. S. Lewis's journey 250 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:15.240 to Jesus, and about how we're all on our own 251 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:16.240 journey to Jesus. 252 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:19.320 Then I imagine you must also be thinking about your 253 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.720 story hours Bible Lessons at Ventures in the Holy Bible, 254 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:25.799 right you are, Uncle John, Boys and girls, we're so 255 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:28.519 happy that we can share these Bible lessons with you. 256 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:32.360 I personally think they're both fun and interesting, and to 257 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:34.039 top it off, they're free. 258 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:36.440 One of my favorite things about the lessons is that 259 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:39.559 as you go through them, you'll get free audio stories 260 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:42.320 about the life of Jesus. By the time you finished 261 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:45.679 all fifty two lessons, you'll have our entire series from 262 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:47.840 Jesus's birth through his resurrection. 263 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.840 It's fun to listen and imagine you're right there in 264 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:54.240 the Bible times, walking beside Jesus as he heals the 265 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:57.919 lepers and blind men, feeds five thousand people, walks on 266 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:01.120 the water, and shares God's love with everyone. 267 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:03.600 So what are you waiting for? You can do the 268 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:06.840 lessons online at our website, your story hour dot Org. 269 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:09.639 Just click on Kid's corner in the menu, or you 270 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:11.519 can sign up to do the lessons by mail. 271 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.759 However you choose to enjoy the lessons, Aunt Nikki and 272 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:18.440 I pray that they help you on your journey to Jesus. 273 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:21.519 Speaking of which, it's time to get back to today's 274 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:25.519 story called see Us Lewis's Journey to Jesus. 275 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:30.759 Jack returned to England to complete his studies with Kirkpatrick 276 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:34.000 while his big brother Warny served as an army officer 277 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:37.440 in France in the First World War. In the spring 278 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:41.360 of nineteen seventeen, Jack followed in his brother's footsteps and 279 00:14:41.480 --> 00:14:45.919 enlisted in the military as well. After military training at Oxford, 280 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:49.320 Jack joined his battalion as they prepared for deployment. 281 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:57.759 Company Jez mess love that AH won't die down? 282 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:01.240 Tired yet or I think I'm ready for a change 283 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:01.759 of pace. 284 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:07.440 Feels like we've been pacing all day long. My name's Johnson, 285 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:08.960 Lawrence Johnson. 286 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:11.840 Lewis, Well, that's my surname. I go by Jack. 287 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:15.240 Go to meet you, Jack, You Irish? 288 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:20.279 Oh what gaveaway? Let me guess you're from London Town, Yes, sir, 289 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:22.279 right in Shakespeare's shadow. 290 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:24.960 Now, I guess I Shakes was from Stratford. 291 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:25.120 Eh. 292 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:28.519 Well, after today's two hour lecture on how to read 293 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:31.080 a map, I'm so cross eyed that I'm not sure 294 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:32.600 which end of the map is up. 295 00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:38.639 Well, Jack, I'm famished. Let's see what they've cooked up tonight. 296 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:47.279 Sounds good, John's son, I'm not sure what this is. 297 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:47.799 On my plate. 298 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:50.840 Probably best not to ask. 299 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:53.879 I you going to Oxford too? 300 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:55.919 Just as soon as this little war was over. 301 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:58.799 I did my officers training there in the spring and 302 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:02.039 it was magnificent, Even though it's currently just a pale 303 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:04.759 reflection of itself with so many students off to war. 304 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:10.120 I feel so alive there the library, oh and the bookshops. 305 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:13.200 What let down to be shipping out to have a 306 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.799 taste of Oxford and then off to war. 307 00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:18.759 But at least the army is not like boarding school, 308 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:21.559 with everybody telling you how much you'll enjoy it, when 309 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:23.000 in reality it's terrible. 310 00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:25.960 True, no one says wars any fun. 311 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:31.200 When they weren't training for war. Jack and Lawrence Johnson 312 00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:34.279 spent hours talking about philosophy and literature. 313 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:39.320 Compared to you, Lawrence I feel ignorant about modern authors 314 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:42.159 like Brooke and Bottomley and Macefield. 315 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:45.799 Sure, but Jack, I can never read the original Iliad 316 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:49.559 or Odyssey like you do. It's truly all great to me. 317 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:54.120 There's so much for both of us to read. As 318 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:57.480 they say, of making many books, there is no end. 319 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:02.240 Ah, But that quote starts much study is wearisome to 320 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:04.839 the flesh. And that's from the Bible. Jack. 321 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:09.039 I don't believe in the Bible, Johnson, But that doesn't 322 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:12.519 mean I don't know it. Doubter's often no religion better 323 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:13.640 than most believers. 324 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:16.319 Ah, you might be right about that, my friend. What 325 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:20.359 do you think about religion? Well, the weight of evidence 326 00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:22.799 points to their being a god. 327 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:26.319 Yet there are ten thousand men falling every day in 328 00:17:26.359 --> 00:17:28.920 our armies and just as many on the other side. 329 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:33.440 All while God looks the other way. The world reaps 330 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:35.319 the consequences of its choices. 331 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:35.680 Jack. 332 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.319 If you jump off a cliff and die, is your 333 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:42.599 death God's fault for not sending a wind to whisk 334 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:43.400 you to safety. 335 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:46.119 Isn't that what God did for Jonah with the whale? 336 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:48.400 It certainly points to God's goodness. 337 00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:53.039 Deep discussions with his new friend helped the evenings pass 338 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:57.359 by quickly, and after several weeks of training, their battalions 339 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:02.359 set sail for France on twenty ninth, nineteen seventeen, which 340 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:06.960 happened to be his nineteenth birthday. Jack, now second Lieutenant Lewis, 341 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:10.759 arrived at the front lines. Soldiers were camped out in 342 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:13.720 trenches that ran for miles and miles. 343 00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:16.680 Welcome to the war, gentlemen. 344 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:17.680 Don't worry. 345 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:21.359 You'll soon learn the difference between their bullets and owls. 346 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:22.079 Ah. 347 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:24.119 I'll look for the German lettering on them. 348 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:28.519 At least the trenches look nice and cozy with snowfallen 349 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:29.519 and winter coming on. 350 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:32.720 I just remember the dust every two weeks if you 351 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:34.680 want to keep your trench feeling like home. 352 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:36.480 It's a little hard. 353 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.680 To dust all the mud, though, good thing I packed 354 00:18:38.680 --> 00:18:39.480 a handkerchief. 355 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:43.000 Wait to plan ahead, Jack, Gentlemen, what we lack here 356 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:47.160 in comforts we make up for in fine conversation and fellowship. 357 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:49.480 Take good care of your boots. 358 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:52.359 You'll find no truer friend here than the two boots 359 00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:53.039 on your feet. 360 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:57.440 Jack soon became used to the rhythm of life in 361 00:18:57.480 --> 00:19:04.279 the trenches. Limited space, unpredictable sleep, constant noise, endless marches 362 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:08.839 and the ever present threat of death. Every day brought 363 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:11.119 new challenges, and not. 364 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:14.240 God today is to reinforce the is cranking. 365 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:17.079 You asked the Germans to knock it off for a bit, 366 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:19.759 so we don't have to do it all over again tomorrow. 367 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:23.920 I'll tell a Graham, the ruler, the Kaiser, and I'll 368 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:25.519 let him know his response. 369 00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:27.799 Thanks Sergeant. 370 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:32.799 By the time Christmas arrived, Jack was very lonesome for home. 371 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.759 Marry Christmas, Jack, and to you, Lawrence, how you doing well? 372 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:40.440 He was just thinking about home and my brother Warney. 373 00:19:40.839 --> 00:19:43.599 We're both here in France, but he's a supply officer, 374 00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:48.720 not posted here on the front lines. So who knows 375 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:49.720 when I'll see him again? 376 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:54.960 Ah, so near and yet so far. Indeed, here's something 377 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:57.559 that might cheer you up. Where it is. They're putting 378 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:01.119 on a Christmas concert for us soon. Here I put 379 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:02.039 your gift. 380 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:06.279 Oh Lawrence, a new book. And it doesn't look like 381 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:09.759 twelve other men have already read it either. Thank you. 382 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.279 You said you never felt more at home than with 383 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:15.480 a new book, So welcome home. My friend. 384 00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:20.920 Reading the new book lifted his spirits, But soon afterward 385 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:25.319 Jack became ill with a fever. After spending several weeks 386 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:28.680 at a Red Cross hospital, he returned to the confusion 387 00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:30.319 and exhaustion of war. 388 00:20:31.079 --> 00:20:38.559 A word, yes, sir, you will wait, Lewis, We're marching here. 389 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:42.160 Chid Son. Of course I'm awake. How could I fall 390 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:43.799 asleep in this downboard. 391 00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:47.039 I've never seen someone march with their eyes shut before. 392 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:49.559 If I close my eyes, I won't know that my 393 00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:51.400 toes have turned into icicles. 394 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:53.039 That's not how it works. 395 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:56.119 It's all right. Next bomb that goes off, I can 396 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:57.079 warm myself up. 397 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:01.920 As the winter of nineteen eighteen ended, the German army 398 00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:06.319 made one last push to defeat the British and their allies. 399 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:11.880 Had It's the first day of spring, which means the 400 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:16.839 Germans have launched a new offension. They aim a push 401 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:21.680