Another one of my friends has been afflicted with cancer, so I am thinking today of CS Lewis' experience of suffering with his cancer-stricken wife. From his friend Charles Williams, Lewis learned of "co-inherence": through the Holy Spirit Christians could "dwell fully with each other and in another's lives" (Alan Jacobs, The Narnian, 284). The stimulus for the idea was St. Paul's words: "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2); "rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15).
For Williams, it was the Christian's duty to die "each other's life," live "each other's death." Thus Lewis prayed that Joy's suffering be transfered to him. For a time, it appeared that his request was granted, as Joy's condition improved dramatically and Lewis began to suffer physically. Lewis thus happily experienced the "way of exchange" that Williams envisioned, receiving "in his body her pain" (Jacobs, 285).
Other than the mystical inter-connectedness of those "in Christ," what strikes me about Williams's idea and Lewis's experience is that the Christian imagination can see so much in the words of our Lord and his Apostle. Because he has been crucified since the foundation of the world, Christ reveals the truth about us and our world, the "hidden and secret wisdom" (1 Corinthians 2:7) that has been obscured with our loss of the Paradise made for us. Those who take Christ's words seriously see the supernatural world and can tap into the power of the slain lamb (Revelation 5:6).
By the way, this "tapping into" is a gift, a "fruit of Christ's paschal mystery" (Catechism). It is also essential to sacramental theology. [7.19.08]
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