I found The Inner Ring to be fairly difficult to read through, but from what I gathered Lewis talks about social circles. An inner ring is simply an exclusive clique. He is expounding off a book on the matter, so I felt that it hindered me having never read this book. However; having just exited high school and still being a teenager, I am all too familiar with cliques. As Lewis described how one didn’t necessarily know whether or not they were in a clique when they were on the outside, I was reminded of my high school experience. Early on in high school everybody is struggling for acceptance. I remember it being hard to know exactly when you knew you were “in” with that new group of friends.
When you’re on the outside of that ring and want to be on the inside it is foolish to speak of the inner ring, Lewis is right about this. I recall my junior year something very strange happened in my high school. Many people started forming actual named cliques. BHBT (Bros Hoes Beers and Tobacco) and Crew 2 to be specific. A couple of my best friends were in Crew 2 and I remember thinking how foolish it was. People would even talk to me about starting a named clique, but I was in agreement with Lewis that there is something unhealthy about all these circles. I kept on hanging out with my friends and all of Crew 2 despite not being part of it. This made it seem even sillier to me, but I do recall that I never it to them or asked if I was in it. I think deep down maybe I did want to be in this inner circle, even if I disliked this idea.
In discussion I came across the question of whether or not there will be circles in heaven. The fact that there will be a resurrection of the body makes me think that heaven will be more like now than we think, more of a perfected earth. We all have lost loved ones that we wish to see in heaven and surely that would be a circle. I think that all of the turmoil and emotional pain will go away, but I think that social circles are tainted goodness. Lewis gave this as the definition for evil. They will just be restored to their proper place in heaven.
Your story reminded me of a coversation that I had with my mom. We had been talking about how its hard to feel accepted in high school. One thing that my mom told me was that even the popular kids feel like they're on the outside sometimes. When looking for friends we should be searching for people who we enjoy being around and who help us to be better people.
ReplyDeleteNow that you mentioned about the little groups in heaven,,, I have never thought that there would be little groups because.. I guess we have to consider everyone brothers and sisters in Christ. But I think what you said also makes sense.
ReplyDeleteWe had a BHBT too! It just wasn't called that. Joking aside you make some very good points about cliques in high school. It sometimes felt like your whole life depended on which one you were in. Looking back this sounds stupid, but this is the reason why the desire to be in them can make people do things that they normally would never do.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that personal story from high school - that's quite interesting. Also, whether there will be social circles in heaven? That's an interesting question and thanks for asking that. To me, I'm not worried about whether there will be or not, because what I do know is that there will be no pain in heaven so even if there are social circles, there will be no jealousy or hurt instilled from being excluded - which is what Lewis said is usually the reason for forming an inner circle. Everything will be perfect in heaven, so to me, I'm not really worried about that.
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