I think that a desire for Christian unity is certainly a central theme of Lewis’s work, and I think one of its expressions is the unity of the members of this group in our love of Lewis’s work. In addition to Orthodox (me and at one time at least there were other Orthodox), Catholic (Ray, the founder of our site, Manuel, Hyoi and probably others), and Protestants, of course. Other Lewis websites that I have visited have the same representation of Christian confessions, for which, I think, Lewis is proud, looking down on us from above. As far as I know, Lewis came to have a close Orthodox friend only later in life, an Oxford colleague, Nicholas Zernov, who published an ecumenical journal called Sobornost’ ( a Russian word which could be translated as “unity”), to which Lewis contributed his essay, “Membership”. And in that connection, I thought I’d post the following scriptural meditation on Christian unity from the Russian book, Day by Day:
"Scripture: ‘And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul’ (Acts 4:32)
"Meditation:
We should turn more often in our thoughts to the first days of Christianity, when the entire life of our Savior was still fresh in the memory of his contemporaries. Unfortunately, this memory faded too quickly, and the spirit of unity and love which existed between the first followers of Christ evaporated! How far we are now from having ‘one heart and one soul’. It is precisely questions of faith which most often give rise to enmity and feuding among those who should be united in one common, all-encompassing, all-embracing faith. If we understand and feel many things differently in the area of religion, we should however remember that God is One for everyone and that a common faith which unites people should lead us to unanimity and not enmity.
"In leaving this earth, our Savior left His disciples a sacred testament: He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you” (John 14:27), and it’s frightening to think how few Christians have been able to abide by it! If we even encounter opinions with which we cannot agree, let us always try to keep a spirit of gentle humility – which is the only way we can overcome.
“By the strength of the Holy Spirit, ‘having cleansed our souls for brotherly affection, let us learn to love one another’ (1 Peter 1:22). The fruit of infusing the heart with the truth of Christ is love. Faith in Christ and His teaching is something that should not divide us, but create peace among us and bring us unfeigned brotherly love. For He is the living and eternal truth which resurrects a person’s dead soul and which is forever the same and continues to give life to everything it touches: ‘Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification’ (Rom. 14:19).”
Dimitry
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8)