“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind” (C. S. Lewis). 

On this date 60 years ago, we lost John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley (author of Brave New World). While most of the world only remembers the first Jack (as in Kennedy), many like me point to the second Jack (as Lewis preferred to be called) as greatly influential in their growing in both faith and imagination. Narnia lives on.

I don’t recall seeing anything about JFK on social media or the news (what little I watched of it). It’s mind-blowing to think that it’s been six decades since he was assassinated, regardless of what your thoughts are on who actually pulled the trigger. And yes, I saw the Oliver Stone movie in a theater long, long ago.

I get JFK is an icon. I get that November 22, 1963 remains a watershed moment in American history, a day of tragedy that led to better days where civil rights laws were passed.

For me, C. S. Lewis was much more influential. It started with the Narnia books and progressed from there. No one could take a complicated theological or apologetical concept and explain it in layman’s terms quite like he did. After all, intelligence isn’t spouting a lot of big words but taking something complex and making it sound simple.

His death was overshadowed by the news of the assassination of President Kennedy, as was the death of philosopher Aldous Huxley, who also died on the same day. On this day, we remember them all.