{"id":4077,"date":"2020-09-23T15:36:05","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T05:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/?post_type=article&p=4077"},"modified":"2020-09-23T15:36:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T05:36:05","slug":"a-story-to-tell-ashton-gresham","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/article\/a-story-to-tell-ashton-gresham\/","title":{"rendered":"A Story To Tell – Ashton Gresham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Golden Boots \u2013 I didn\u2019t win, nor did I represent SL, but let me tell you a little story, a story of a great man who shined out from a life of darkness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jack, as he was known by his closest friends and family, was born in Belfast, Ireland in November 1898.\u00a0 As a young boy, Jack was enraptured with mythical animals and stories of gallantry.<\/p>\n

This led him and his brother Warren to create fantastical lands of their own, however not fantastical enough to escape the jaws of reality.\u00a0 When Jack was ten his mother sadly passed away.<\/p>\n

Despite having already gone through more than many of us boys have in our lives, Jack didn\u2019t let it slow him down.\u00a0 At the age of 16, World War One broke out, and as soon as he could he started active service.\u00a0 At the age of sixteen, for me, the most nerve racking thing I did was trying to get my L-plates.<\/p>\n

After reaching the rank of Second Lieutenant in one of the most respected divisions in the British Army, Jack was wounded by shrapnel and was honourably discharged towards the end of the war at the ripe old age of\u2026 twenty.\u00a0 Only three years older than me.<\/p>\n

After his impressive achievements in the army, Jack returned to complete his university education at the highly esteemed Oxford University.\u00a0 After graduating with a focus on literature and philosophy, he was invited back to teach.\u00a0 Whilst there, he joined a group of writers known as \u2018The Inklings\u2019, who counted among their members Jack\u2019s brother, Warren, and J.R.R.\u00a0 Tolkien.<\/p>\n

And this is where his story really kicks off.\u00a0 Jack found himself, after years of disillusionment, re-embracing Christianity.\u00a0 This prompted him to use his skills to begin writing books, many of which are now well-known works.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Much later on, when Jack was in his early forties, World War Two broke out and, despite his previous injuries, he attempted to re-enlist but the war office felt that his time was better spent putting his writings and intellect towards community morale and the war effort at home.<\/p>\n

During the six years of war, Jack became famous for his radio broadcasts about faith.\u00a0 His speeches to a war-ravaged Britain were then compiled into one of the period’s most influential books, Mere Christianity<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Five years after the Second World War, Jack published his most famous book which remains a classic to this day – The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe<\/em>.\u00a0 It was then, in 1956, that Jack (known to you as C.S Lewis) was \u201cSurprised by Joy\u201d, who, as fate would have it, happens to be my own great grandmother.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They were married that year.\u00a0 Those years of marriage were the happiest of his life, albeit short-lived.\u00a0 After only four years of marriage, Joy died of cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three years later, Jack resigned and on November the 22nd 1963, Clive Staples Lewis, as bright a star as any, passed away.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, C.S.\u00a0 Lewis died a sad but fulfilled man.\u00a0 Despite all the darkness around him, despite all the pain and suffering.\u00a0 In fact, it was only because of his trials that he could see the stars.\u00a0 And it is because of them that he became a star for millions.\u00a0 As the man himself said, \u201cpain is God\u2019s megaphone to rouse a deaf world\u201d.<\/p>\n

So lads, let C.S.\u00a0 Lewis be an example to you.\u00a0 Rejoice in your suffering, for your suffering is the darkness that reveals your blessings.\u00a0 And count your blessings for your blessings are the stars.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ashton chatting to some SL Yr 7’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"\"
Ashton and some SL boys<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Golden Boots \u2013 I didn\u2019t win, nor did I represent SL, but let me tell you a little story, a story of a great man who shined out from a life of darkness.\u00a0 Jack, as he was known by his closest friends and family, was born in Belfast, Ireland in November 1898.\u00a0 As a young […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_category":[],"article_tag":[9],"class_list":["post-4077","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_tag-school-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/4077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_category?post=4077"},{"taxonomy":"article_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_tag?post=4077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}