"Any child loves rain"

Wonder, Alienation, and the Spiritual Drama of That Hideous Strength
C.S. Lewis

“Everyone begins as a child by liking Weather.
You learn the art of disliking it as you grow up.
… Any child loves rain if it’s allowed to go out and paddle about in it.”

The Loss of Wonder

Children love weather.
They run into it.
They listen to it.
They are not afraid of being touched by the world.

Adults learn to dislike weather.
To avoid mess.
To stay dry.
To stay in control.

We are trained out of wonder.
And into resistance.

This is not maturity.
It is a kind of spiritual forgetting.

And in Lewis’s world,
this forgetting is the root of our sickness.

Who Says It: The Dennistons and Jane

The quote is spoken by Camilla and Arthur Denniston,
in an early conversation with Jane Studdock.

The conversation takes place during a foggy countryside picnic, when Jane is taken out with the Dennistons as part of her early exposure to the company at St. Anne’s. While the mist is settling over the fields and everything is damp and half-visible, they pause and talk —about weather, about childhood, and about the kind of seeing that isn’t taught in modern schools.

The Dennistons are not flashy.
But they are grounded—
deeply rooted in the order of things.

They speak with the casual wisdom of those who live in harmony with the natural and the spiritual.

Their comment about weather
isn't small talk.

It’s a window into a worldview.

And for Jane, it’s her first glimpse into the soul of daily life.

Mr. and Mrs. Denniston: Living Symbols

The Dennistons embody subtle strength.
Not aggressive.
Not naive.

Camilla is fierce, intuitive,
and calmly formidable.

Arthur is steady, perceptive,
a keeper of old wisdom.

Together,
they represent the human soul
aligned with something higher.

When they talk about loving weather,
they are talking about a way of seeing.

A way of being that is soft to the world,
but not weak.

Full of trust,
not fear.

Jane Studdock: The Soul in Transition

Jane is intelligent.
Independent.
Suspicious of devotion.
And allergic to surrender.

She begins the novel emotionally adrift.
Longing for more,
but unable to name what it is.

When she hears the Dennistons speak,
something stirs in her memory.

She begins to wonder
if there is another kind of life—
not built around control.

Weather as Symbol

In Lewis’s mythic frame,
weather becomes a test of soul:

• The NICE wants to manipulate nature.
  Sterilize it.
  Manage it.

• St. Anne’s receives nature.
  Blesses it.
  Cooperates with it.

To love weather
is to accept the world as a gift.

To hate it
is to demand the world be remade
in our own image.

The Deep Question

What do we do
with what we cannot control?

Do we armor up?

Or kneel?

Why Read That Hideous Strength

Because it is part novel, part spiritual x-ray.

It names the hollow spaces
behind modern “progress.”

It shows how the thirst for power
dismantles meaning.

And how humble hearts
can still hold back the darkness.

Confronting dystopia with prophetic realism.

Invitation

If you’ve ever
stood in the doorway
longing to run into the rain—

If you’ve ever
wondered if childlike joy
was a doorway to something deeper—

Then this story is for you.