The Business of Heaven: Daily Readings from C. S. Lewis

This is another wonderful compilation of CS Lewis' writings from various books to enrich your daily meditation and time in the word. I also purchased Lewis', "A Year With CS Lewis." They are different books with different offerings so do not hesitate to purchase either or both. This book was well packaged and received as promised, free of notes or highlighting and in great condition. I'm very pleased with my purchase and will purchase from this bookseller again.

This is a nice collection of readings from C.S. Lewis, edited by Walter Hooper. However, it suffer from the same "illness" that most, if not all, daily readings text suffer - lack of total context.The topics of the readings range from 'Aquinas' to 'When the World Drama Ends.' As he always, Lewis writes with precision clarity; most Latin scholars do. As far as merely a readings text, it is hard to go wrong with Lewis: he is one of the greatest thinkers from the 20th century. However, if you purchase this text with the intention of having a devotional work, then you might be disappointed. Don't misunderstand me, Lewis' writings are quite devotional in one sense, but are quite rigorous, which runs contrary to most if not all devotional work. This would be more of a serious food for thought work.However, if you are wanting a broad spectrum of Lewis' thought wrapped up in small 'tidbits' then you will love this work - but keep the lack of context in mind (it is always best to read the whole and not just a part to gain a full grasp of what any writer is trying to say). I would also recommend Lewis' "Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories."

I have tried assorted "devotional" books before, but I have never been satisfied. All too often, commentaries on specific Bible passages seem to conflict with the very passage they are trying to explain or illustrate, and devotional works which are intended to stand on their own tend to be too sickly-sweet for me, or have questionable theology from time to time. But of course, this is C.S. Lewis. Walter Hooper has arranged some of Lewis' pithier passages into a series roughly paralleling the Church Year as observed by Anglicans. I read it in parallel with my own Bible reading, and was somewhat bemused to find how often what Lewis wrote meshed with what I was reading in the Bible, even though I made no attempt to coordinate or harmonise the two. This is a "devotional book" with which I can be satisfied.

Of course, in an ideal world, where we all had tons of free time to read, a book of C.S. Lewis excerpts like this would be useless. But, in the actual world, where sometimes reading has to come next to things like working, grocery shopping, and sleeping, a book like this one is quite helpful. It doesn't compare to reading each of his great works in their entirety, but the excerpts are organized very well, often by theme and/or work taken from, so there's a feeling of continuity and thoroughness. Another great thing about this book is that often with C.S. Lewis' works, the density of things to think about within the pages is so great that a lot of the cool thoughts and ideas get missed in a normal read-through. But generally in this book, each daily reading expresses a singular idea, so there is more time to really let the weight of the thought sink in, and to spend some time intellectually and emotionally digesting his words. So if you're a C.S. Lewis fan, or even just a fan of filling your brain with interesting concepts and insightful analogies, this is a must-have.

I recently lost my two-year-old copy and am order another. I have given copies to my older children with the strongest possible recommendation. Lewis has profoundly affected my life from the time I read "Out of the Silent Planet" in about 1957. If you are serious about your search for The Master, Lewis' writings can help.