Affection

"It is affection that teaches us first to notice, then to endure, then to smile at, then to enjoy, and finally to appreciate, the people who 'happen to be there'. Made for us? Thank God, no. They are themselves, odder than you could have believed and worth far more than we guessed" CS Lewis - The Four Loves p.46

I just finished reading The Four Loves and would recommend it to anyone. I'm a big CS Lewis fan anyway, but I thought this was brilliant. One of the big themes is 'Love, having become a god, becomes a demon', which basically means we musn't swap God is Love into Love is God, and the disasters that will follow if we do.

This part about affection is one of my favourites, because it expresses so much more clearly than I ever could something I've been discovering since I've been placed in school.

I had the luxury of reading about two thirds of it in one sitting on the train home yesterday, which means I'm now back in beautiful Hampshire. It's great to be home, my brother in law is away for the weekend so my sister is staying at my parents as well, so it's plenty of excellent family time, and more of a chance to get to know my nieces.

And so I'll stop blogging and go and see them...