It looks like I’m going to have to work late on this Friday night, so I’ve just taken an hour break to start to dig in to my new book that arrived today, titled C.S. Lewis “Letters to Children”.
I don’t know what I’m enjoying more, my “Uncle Lewis” as he writes such wonderful words to the children that have written him, or the delight of holding and marking up a paper book again. You see, I’ve recently done most of my reading on the Kindle. The reason for this is two-fold:
- The prices are cheaper on the Kindle
- I find it more convenient at night when I am reading. While I tend to sleep with a small table lamp on, it really is becoming too dim of light to read by and I can’t find my book light. With the Kindle that I have, I can see clearly at night and it turns off by itself. This also eliminates going to bed with a pile of books under and on top of my pillows as well as saves money on highlighters that invariably get lost when I fall asleep without their lids on, thus drying up.
I am also throughly enjoying making notes in the margins of this book. Of course I make notes on my Kindle, but it just isn’t as much fun as it is to write down my thoughts and markings in the margins of the book.
And in reading the letters that C.S. Lewis wrote to children, I am also delighted in words. Written words. Not just the masterful use of language, though there is that. But the use of the written word to communicate ideas to another person. It’s how I best operate. And, I dare say, it is how my “Uncle Lewis” best operated as well. There is something simply wonderful about sitting down and taking the time to write out one’s thoughts for another person to read. It is a privilege and an honor to be the writer of those thoughts. And it is a privilege and an honor to be the recipient of those words.
It reminds me of Paul’s letters in Scripture. What a gift that we should be allowed to be “recipients” (though so many years later) of the time and thought he put into those written words.