A brief but heartwarming article I found in Response magazine. See if that C.S. Lewis doesn’t just choke you up a bit here:
Among the many things for which C.S. Lewis is well known is his personal correspondence with friends, family, and readers the world over. He was most careful and considerate with children. To them, he often revealed a human and playful side, whether telling a joke, gently disagreeing with a particular point, or heartily commending a drawing or insight. One child received high praise for having sketched especially lively “snaky snakes”; to others he revealed his loathing for math and fondness for mice; and though he commended eight siblings in one family for washing dishes and reading at the same time, he wanted to know, “How many plates do you smash in a month?”
In “C.S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table,” Erik Routley said of Lewis’ letters, “They were always written for you, and no one else. I think that was his great secret.”
Perhaps no one knows this better than Laurence Krieg. Among his most prized possession are eight letters that he and his mother, Philinda, received from Lewis between May 1955 and December 1958. Now kept in a safe deposit box, they reveal the very real concern and deep responsibility that Lewis felt for his writing and his young readers.
It began when 9-year-old Laurence, an eager fan of The Chronicles of Narnia, confided to his mother that he was afraid that he loved Aslan the lion more than he loved Jesus. Did that make him an idol worshipper? Philinda prompty wrote in care of the publisher and told Lewis of her son’s confusion. So concerned was the author when he learned of Laurence’s distress that the Kriegs had an answer in just 10 days:
“Tell Laurence from me, with my love,” Lewis wrote in a detailed letter, “he can’t really love Aslan more than Jesus, even if he feels that’s what he is doing. For the things he loves Aslan for doing or saying are simply the things Jesus really did and said. So that when Laurence thinks he is loving Aslan, he is really loving Jesus, and perhaps loving Him more than he ever did before …. I don’t think he need be bothered at all. God knows all about the way a little boy’s imagination works (He made it, after all) ….”
Before closing, Lewis asked if the boy would pray for him: “It would be kind and Christian-like if Laurence then added to his prayer, ‘And if Mr. Lewis has worried any other children by his books or done them any harm, then please forgive him and help him never to do it again’.”
Krieg recalls being filled with excitement and wonder that someone who wrote a book would actually write to him. “As more letters arrived, the excitement didn’t diminish,” he says. “If anything, it increased. Everything about his letters shows Lewis to have been a man of great humility, wisdom, and sensitivity. The way he handled my anxiety at the time has been a real inspiration to me. I still find it more helpful at times to picture Jesus as the Great Lion when I worship or meditate.”
Krieg says his three grown children are “very much Narnians at heart.” Small wonder after growing up in a household where they heard their father speak of Lewis as a friend. “I still consider myself fortunate to have benefited from Lewis’ love and wisdom at an early age,” he says. “I often think of Jack Lewis as my guardian ‘angel,’ looking down with amused tolerance — and often concern, I’m sure. Someday, I hope to get to know him better in ‘Aslan’s country’.”
sniff! sniff! That is so sweet!!
I love him, too. Amazing man.
So much to love about this little article: the whole “snaky snakes” thing and the way he reassures the little boy and THEN the way he asks the boy to pray for him.
I love his sweetness and humility here.
Oh, and the way he said, tell him with my love ….
Wow. Just … wow.
I second everything you all have said. C.S. Lewis is one of my favorites.
This really was an amazing story.
I have finally watched Chronicles of Narnia, as in just turned off the DVD player and sent the kids to bed 15 minutes ago.
I am still a Narnian.
I recently saw the movie about his life, Shadowlands. He seemed like a very kind man.
Besides the genius of the man, he was just a wonderful human man. Thanks for the story!
ASM — I love Shadowlands. Anthony Hopkins is so great in that.
Cullen — Yes. You are still a Narnian. We ALL are! Hooray!
My dears,
If you haven’t read it, please find a copy of “A Severe Mercy” by Sheldon Vanauken. This is a memoir he wrote about his life with his wife and their conversion to Christianity.
When it was first published, in 1976, the publisher touted it as containing “previously unpublished letters of C.S. Lewis”. This was dropped as a selling point after the book itself became an instant classic, but the letters are still a wonderful part of the story.
Vanauken wrote Lewis with some of his questions on Christianity, after reading several of his books. Lewis replied and a friendship was begun that lasted until Lewis’s death in 1963.
His portrait of Lewis is a vivid one.
Sal — THANK you for that one! I have been meaning to read that book for years. It’s good to have a gentle nudging reminder.