Boys in trouble need good books. Good old books. They need
stories of heroes with swords and armor and desperate odds against them. They
need stories of brave, honest, fierce men battling for what is right and good
and honorable. The books on their shelves should stir their hearts to action,
should motivate them to rescue the helpless and defend the weak and speak the
truth with courage. Good old books teach honor. Boys need to witness honor so
that they might grow to emulate it. Our world needs men of honor.
I don’t think it would be overstatement to say that King
Arthur and the Elven lords of Tolkien rescued me time and again as a high
school boy. They gave me laws to live by, a code. They pointed me in a
direction and gave me surrogate fathers to live up to. When I read about the
heroes who strode the pages of their books, I wanted to be them. They helped keep me
out of really serious trouble.
So I say to fathers, defend the hearts and minds of your boys .Give your sons old
books. Point them to the heroes of legend who still live on in ink and paper.
Then point them to the cross where the warrior king Jesus fought on our behalf,
was slain and buried and rose again victorious over death and the grave. All the
other stories are just shadows of His. His is the best old book, the best
story, the one from which all good stories draw their power.
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