Preparing for Easter: Fifty Devotional Readings from C. S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Preparing for Easter” by C.S. Lewis is a thought-a-day for Lent. There’s a theme for each week and each selection from Lewis’s works ties in to this theme. When I first picked up the book, I thought it was actually written by C.S. Lewis. It does not take long to realize that this is not the case. Instead, the publishers have taken short pieces from the Lewis canon that fit the weekly theme. At first I was annoyed with this because I felt like I had been tricked. Plus I’m not a fan of chopping up a complete work and using it in a compilation.
I almost gave up on this book due to my issues with compilations. However, after finishing the first week, I started to become familiarized with the flow of the book. Also, the majority of the pieces do come from letters and essays and are presented in their entirety. Only rarely do they chop a whole piece into a smaller part. What kept my attention is that I was introduced to some of Lewis’s writings that I had never heard of. At the end of each piece, they give the title of the collection of which it is a part. I added several of the titles to my to-read list.
What’s really apparent throughout the book is the way in which Lewis viewed his faith and how open he was about incorporating his faith into his craft. Whether it’s writing to a friend or pointing out themes of faith and belief in other classical works, or creating a piece of his own which demonstrates an aspect of Christianity, Lewis’s works reveal the ins and outs of his belief in God. As a person of faith, I appreciated that the publishers didn’t just choose pieces that showed Lewis confidence in God, they also incorporated moments where Lewis questions aspects about what he believes or he’s reacting to something that is troubling him. It’s important to show that no one has all the answers and having faith doesn’t mean you’re never going to have doubts.
I don’t know that I would read this every year. I may come back to it at some point. I will hang on to this book to share with others or as a reference to find certain works by Lewis. I would recommend this book if you are a fan of Lewis and/or a person of faith yourself.
