or does it?

Lewis tells us about power in today's reading from A Year with C.S. Lewis.

He tells us about God's decision to limit His own power in our lives. And that by itself disproves the famous quote by Lord Acton above. This is one of those sayings that sounds true, but really makes no sense when you think about it. One that comes to mind is "All good things must come to an end." Which is, of course, patently false. God is the only truly good "thing", and He never comes to an end. Heaven is good, and it never ends. Saints are good, they never end. In fact, the "good"er something is, the less likely it seems to be to come to an end.

In Lord Acton's quote, we see again the mistake. Absolute power is only held by one being in the universe. And that one being is absolutely without any hint of corruption whatsoever. So when you remove the extreme, the lesser examples are called into question. Meaning the statements of popes and kings should not be discounted simply because they're made by people in positions of power. The statements should be considered on their own merit.

And Lewis tells us that God, in limiting His power, allows us to truly have free will. If He chose, He could force everyone to do His will constantly. But He wants us to choose Him, while being able to choose otherwise.

Thank You, God, for being absolutely powerful, and absolutely good. And for never coming to an end.