JustDad.Blog

List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?

Ah.. such a timely question. My wife is reading one of my favorite books right now and while we were out at the pool this weekend I asked her to read me the introduction out loud. I’ll save that and the best for last-

3. The Horse and His Boy by C.S Lewis. This story has had a huge impact on my life. Really the whole Chronicles of Narnia… but the Horse and His Boy is the one I relate to most. As an adopted kid I relate well to the main character Shasta. I also relate to his journey in the story… I won’t spoil it for you. I also happen to relate to Aravis… one of the other main characters. Their interactions with Aslan make my heart soar.

2. Mere Christianity by C.S Lewis. This book helped me form the background of my faith in a big way. Much of Lewis’ wisdom in this story has played itself out in my life and I’m thankful for it

1. My number one most impactful book is:

Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

There are two reasons for this:

1. I very much relate to G.K. Chesterton. He was a journalist who wrote columns for multiple papers and wrote over 80 books. His personal tone in writing influences my writing style a lot

2. His work has had an immense personal impact on me. My favorite passage is located in this book… when I shared this passage with my wife (then girlfriend)… she looked and me and asked: Is there more? She understood why I was so excited about the passage.

This was the day I officially fell in love with her…. And I have never been the same since.

Here is a section of that passage:

When I had written this down, I felt once again the presence of something else in the discussion: as a man hears a church bell above the sound of the street. Something seemed to be saying, “My ideal at least is fixed; for it was fixed before the foundations of the world. My vision of perfection assuredly cannot be altered; for it is called Eden. You may alter the place to which you are going; but you cannot alter the place from which you have come. To the orthodox there must always be a case for revolution; for in the hearts of men God has been put under the feet of Satan. In the upper world hell once rebelled against heaven. But in this world heaven is rebelling against hell. For the orthodox there can always be a revolution; for a revolution is a restoration. At any instant you may strike a blow for the perfection which no man has seen since Adam. No unchanging custom, no changing evolution can make the original good any thing but good. Man may have had concubines as long as cows have had horns: still they are not a part of him if they are sinful. Men may have been under oppression ever since fish were under water; still they ought not to be, if oppression is sinful. The chain may seem as natural to the slave, or the paint to the harlot, as does the plume to the bird or the burrow to the fox; still they are not, if they are sinful. I lift my prehistoric legend to defy all your history. Your vision is not merely a fixture: it is a fact.”

From “The Eternal Revolution” Orthodoxy G.K Chesterton