This Is the Way
We Read to Know We Are Not Alone

By Robin Webber

It’s been nearly 10 years since I became acquainted with the comforting wisdom of the phrase "we read to know we are not alone." It’s wonderful advice that has never wandered too far from me. It was a twice-repeated line from the movie Shadowlands, which focused on C.S. Lewis, a noted British theologian. Lewis was transformed by the suffering he experienced through the premature death of his wife. When the phrase is first mentioned in the movie by one of his students, it simply bounces off his carefully constructed nonemotional intellectual armor. Only later, when he experienced the pain of losing a "special someone," did he come to understand the weight of shared emotional experience.

About three months ago, this powerful life-changing concept of "we read to know we are not alone" was again brought to light through an article titled, "The Marines: Always Faithful to Their History" written by Los Angeles Times staff writer Tony Perry, which the paper ran on March 6, 2003.

Far from the setting of the ancient halls of Lewis’ Cambridge University, this journalistic entry puts us down into the sand of Kuwait as U.S. Marines prepare to "kick in the door" to neighboring Iraq. There is probably no greater contrast than that of a theological mind like Lewis and a young "can-do" Marine. Yet, each in his own time came to profit from the wisdom of "we read to know that we are not alone."

Carrying on the tradition

Reporter Perry begins by introducing us to Marine Lance Cpl. William Figlesthaler of Naples, Florida. He’s a member of the Camp Pendleton-based First Marine Division, which is the oldest, largest and most decorated division in the Marines. The division’s nickname is "Old Breed."

But, just a moment. Figlesthaler is only age 19. What makes such a young man want to be a part of the "Old Breed"?; He emphatically states, "The Marines have got the best history and now I’ve got a chance to carry on that tradition—it’s awesome." How did he achieve that level of purpose at such a young age?

Read the full article at www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0306/way0306.htm

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This Is the Way We Read to Know We Are Not Alone

By Robin Webber

Read the full article at www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0306/way0306.htm

This Is the Way
We Read to Know We Are Not Alone