About Grandchildren and C.S. Lewis

My favorite companions are my grandchildren (except for my husband, of course.). I don't care what we do together: play dominoes, read stories, jump on the trampoline, throw rocks in the river -- it is all just an excuse to be together. Children fascinate me because they haven't lost the wonder of living. I think part of the reason, as Charles Dickens said, is because they are "so fresh from God."

C.S. Lewis was another lover of children and he understood them very well which I find fascinating because he was a confirmed old bachelor who married a widow late in life, only then, finally becoming the stepfather of two young boys. He had already written his famous Narnia tales and engaged in extensive correspondence with his young fans, a correspondence that showed his absolute respect for them. One of my favorite letters he wrote to Lucy on September 14, 1957. "I am so glad you like the Narnian stories and it was nice of you to write and tell me," he wrote. "Do you know Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I think you w[oul]d like it....It makes me, I think, more humble than proud to know that Aslan has allowed me to be the means of making Him more real to you. Because He could have used anyone -- as He made a donkey preach a good sermon to Balaam." His humility and sense of humor both shine in the charming picture of himself as a donkey for Jesus!

There is no talking down to Lucy in Lewis' letter. Whether she knows the biblical story of Balaam or not, Lewis gives Lucy enough information to figure out exactly what he is talking about. Children, he said often in his letters, understood the symbolism of Aslan as a Christ figure when adults did not. I can relate to that because when we went to see the movie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we had an amusing exchange with the man selling popcorn. Presumably he had seen the film more than once. "I finally figured it out," he told us proudly. "The professor is the lion." I had to stifle a laugh because I didn't want to offend him. He illustrated Lewis' point so perfectly.

C.S. Lewis must have been childlike in the best sense of the word. He had a real sense of wonder about the world and the One who created it. If you want to get some measure of the man, reading his Letters to Children is a good place to start.