November 8, 2020
This week both Americans and Canadians will honor those veterans who have served their countries in war.
C.S. Lewis, one of the great literary minds and authors of the 20th century, is famous for the Narnia Chronicles, The Screwtape Letters, A Grief Observed, The Four Loves, and a science fiction trilogy.
What many may not know is that he was a veteran of World War One, a bloody, cruel war. He enrolled at age 19, and after a mere 4 weeks of training, entered the muddy, lice and rat infested trenches to face explosives and gunfire.
Even in the trenches, he read books and wrote. For many of the men, reading was an escape from horrors of war.
Lewis’s friend Paddy was killed in that war, and Lewis kept his promise to his friend to look after Paddy’s mother and sister in the years that followed.
Lewis himself was sent home from battle with shrapnel wounds. A piece of the metal lodged too near his heart to be removed, and stayed there the rest of his life.
And for many wounded soldiers, physical, emotional, and mental scars remain with them always. They deserve our prayers.
