Old Friends

Painting by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy

It is a good rule after reading a new book, 

never to allow yourself another new one 

till you have read an old one in between. 

                                                                           ~ C.S. Lewis 

On the contemplative journey, we find Lewis’s advice not only interesting and helpful, but almost inevitable as well. You come across all these wise modern authors and companions on the journey, but as a rule, they constantly remind you of the deep and rich tradition from where we find guidance and nourishment. We are members of a community of believers that span over centuries.

It is an adventure with many rewards to be part of this ongoing conversation where the voices of the desert fathers, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Brother Lawrence, Sφren Kierkegaard, Gerard Manley Hopkins, G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis himself, to name but a few, are to be heard often as well.

Second hand bookshops therefore rank as high as coffee shops and a pot tea in maintaining friendships.

George