A user friendly volume on the letters of C. S. Lewis has been made available under the title Yours, Jack – Spiritual Direction from C. S. Lewis Edited by Paul F. Ford
Here is an overview of this book:
“C. S. Lewis spent a good portion of each day corresponding with people via handwritten letters. Over his lifetime he wrote thousands of letters in which he offered his friends and acquaintances advice on the Christian life, giving away a bit of himself to each of these correspondents as he signed his notes with a heartfelt and familiar, “Yours, Jack.” Most of these letters are currently only available in their entirety—a collection consisting of three hefty tomes. Yours, Jack features the best inspirational readings and sage counsel culled from C. S. Lewis’s letters, offering an accessible look at this great author’s personal vision for the spiritual life. This thematic selection from his letters offers the freshest presentation of Lewis’s writings since his death in 1963. Yours, Jack will showcase Lewis’s remarkable teachings and vision for a new generation.”
The first correspondence reproduced in this helpful collection of letters is from Lewis as a young man during the Edwardian Period. The Edwardian Age is that time in British history right after the death of Queen Victoria and before the Great War we know as World War I. King Edward was on the throne and it was seen as a time of peace and plenty.
In 1916 C. S. Lewis then an atheist continued to stay in touch by letter with his boyhood friend Arthur Greeves who had been raised in a Plymouth Brethren Christian family. Interestingly, this letter from Lewis to Greeves shares the discovery of a fantasy book which had stirred the spiritual sensibilities of Lewis:
7 March 1916
“I have had a great literary experience this week. I have discovered yet another author to add to our circle-our very own set: never since I first read ‘the well at the world’s end’ have I enjoyed a book so much – … The book, to get to the point, is George MacDonald’s ‘Faerie Romance’, Phantastes, which I picked up by hazard in a rather tired Everyman copy… Have you read it? At any rate, whatever the book you are reading now, you simply must get this at once: and it is quite worth getting in a superior Eveyman binding too.”
In the first century, written correspondence were key in the nurture of newly planted churches. Imagine the joy and anticipation at receiving a letter from the Apostle Paul by the community of faith. Place yourself inside the church fellowship at Thessalonica when a scroll upon which the Word of God has been written arrives. Now read the first part of this letter:
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly[a] mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers[b] loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:1-10).
Years earlier Paul had violently opposed the Christian faith. Then he encountered Jesus Christ personally in a vision and was forever changed. His letters show how he encouraged others to meet the Savior and grow in their relationship with Him.
How have the correspondence of other’s help you make new discoveries in your walk of faith?