Spiritual life is a struggle between the true narrative of who we are in Christ and the lesser narratives that seek to impose themselves as our identity.
We seek to nurture the true narrative, and we can adopt habits that deflate or subvert the lesser narratives from growing.
From Trevin Wax.
For years, people close to C. S. Lewis shook their heads in consternation over his habit of answering every letter that crossed his desk. How many books might he have written had he put aside those interminable interruptions and focused on his work!
Not every writer or thinker is called to answer every letter in the way Lewis did. There’s no divine command when it comes to well known Christians answering letters. This is another example of a “subversive habit.”
Lewis’s early letters (before his conversion) are suffused with snobbery. To put it bluntly, the guy was a prig. Pride, haughtiness, and condescension show up often.
Contrast the early letters with those that came later in life. There, we see a man who, when asked about spiritual matters, took time to respond to individuals with words rich in spiritual insight and devotion. Lewis’s decision to devote so much time to letters placed him in the role of a servant to his readers. By carefully answering others’ questions, he allowed them to set the agenda for much of his writing, and this discipline subverted the instinct of Lewis to call the shots.
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