I decided to experiment a little bit this month by writing a letter addressed to my sons, highlighting the lessons I have learned this year that I would like to pass on to them.
Dear L & R,
Honoring the fact that we are one of those families that celebrate the Christmas season early, I decided to write a Christmas letter reflecting on what I have learned from both of you. This might come as quite a shock since the assumption is that the academic work your father does rarely seems to make sense to everyday life. I can see the boredom in your eyes when I have moved past slightly interesting information to instead making a short story long. However, I am hoping that since I am writing about stories that you find fascinating then you will give me a little extra time of your attention.
What sparks your attention is why I am writing. Many adults worry about the attention span of children. There are even stories that young people entering college have not read a book in years! How can one actually attend school without reading a book?
As you know, I saw your grandpa read almost every night and weekend, off in a quiet corner of the house. He did this usually after a long day at work. You see him do this all the time too. You have also seen my voracious reading schedule. I find that the stillness of the early morning, and a warm cup of coffee, is the perfect setting to get lost in a book. Fiction, non-fiction, literature, philosophy—it really does not matter. The pleasure of escaping into the narrative of the book is well worth the time.
The joy that the pleasure of reading a good book is something you both discovered, L especially with Charles Dickens. Of course, you liked A Tale of Two Cities and you are slowly making your way through Nicholas Nickleby, but Oliver Twist was a revelation. A day has not gone by that we do not hear Fagin or the Artful Dodger singing a line from the musical (or later, I find myself humming “You have to pick a pocket or two” throughout the day).
A couple of Dickens’s unforgettable characters
I love to finish a book then watch a movie version, but you have taken this to another level! And this is really the best part of the power of Dickens—that you became friends with these fictional characters. You have loved this book so much that you dressed up as Dodger for Halloween, and we even watched the recent series about him. We always read and watched A Christmas Carol every Christmas, and Great Expectations is one of my top ten books of all time, yet your love of Dickens reminded me of the danger of forsaking the classics especially since there is a broad Christian message in his stories.
Christian themes are all over his stories
Reading good literature is good for the soul. Again, I am not going to spend the rest of the time writing an essay about that. I will just say that there is a reason so many look to Dickens, C. S. Lewis, Tolkien and others for guidance when it comes to ethical matters. Their stories illustrate what it means to have character (and are also fun to read). I once thought the best thing I could do was to abandon the classics for the sake of reading what was considered new or edgy especially since there are other good books that have been ignored for some very foolish reasons. However, this avoidance was an oversight on my part. I was reminded of this because unfortunately many young readers are actually not reading these classics (or reading at all). I think new classics are always being written, but what is the point of such an idea if we do not even recognize the old ones?
I was brought up in Christian school culture so I thought I suffered from Lewis/Tolkien overexposure. However, what if my former teachers and role models simply wanted to share their love of their favorite writers just like I am now doing for my students. It is this joy that I see with you, R, when you wanted to keep reading The Hobbit or when you asked to explore the stories around the 100 Acre Woods.
R, you have always had a soft spot for Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. What might characteristically be seen as stories for younger children, there is still lessons for adults about friendship and community. What is wrong with the reminder of innocence and imagination?
By chance I learned that the great Catholic writer Thomas Merton once retold his own Pooh story “The Haunted Castle” with renamed characters. If someone of Merton’s caliber can find value in Pooh’s forest friends then why not all of us? There is more to Pooh and Merton.
The last couple of Christmas seasons, one of my go-to albums is Joan Baez’s Noel. I am hoping that this upcoming break will give me time to publish an article about Baez that I have been working on (sorry, more work stuff). Did you know that Baez, during the height of her fame, travelled to hang out with Merton? How cool of a monk do you have to be for the Queen of Folk to come visit you?
Note the resemblance
One of the reasons is because Merton wrote some really good books and essays. Baez wrote about Merton a few times. She obviously found his ideas important especially about non-violence. I find that there is something special about Merton, constantly striving for solitude, but attracting friends to come visit. Even monks need a visit from some friends.
Sorry that this letter is getting a little long. Let me wrap this story up. Baez and her mentor, Ira Sandperl, once visited Merton. This gathering, a picnic in fact, prompted Baez to write that “Merton looked considerably like Pooh” (she was Piglet, and Sandperl was Owl) since they were wandering around the fields around Gethsemani. I find this little anecdote adorable and since you are one for a funny story, I think you will too. But it also shows how even famous artistic people who care passionately about peace can just hang out and have a cheeseburger. And of all the things that Baez could think of to memorialize that moment was that they were Milne’s Pooh characters. If there was a world without Pooh and friends, then how would Baez perfectly capture this little meeting?
Thanks to you both for letting me see the love of reading so close to home. And thanks for going along with me to that Lord of the Ring concert (there is another next year!). Hopefully we will have some new books to celebrate next year. Maybe I will also have another Thomas Merton story to tell.
Love From, Dad
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