Why Everyone Should Be Reading a Book Published 52 Years Ago

Back in the late fall, at a church gathering, we were talking about evil, and I shared that my strongest understanding of evil / the devil comes courtesy of the book A Wind in the Door, written by Madeleine L’Engle, and its depiction of the echthroi.  (The book also has a pretty decent depiction of a “biblically accurate angel” in the cherubim Proginoskes, whose naming is intentionally grammatically singular and plural.)  And by calling that book into my memory, I added it to my post-Christmas reading list. Though, since order is important, I had to read A Wrinkle in Time first, and A Wind in the Door was the book that spanned the old year and the new for me.

 

 

Proginoskes, a "biblically accurate angel" on the cover!

 

The re-read was more powerful than I had anticipated – chills and goosebumps and tears and heart being ripped open.  And so here are the reasons why I think that A Wind in the Door is the book that the world needs to be reading in 2026.

 

1)   Little acts of resistance matter.  At one point, the book quotes the old poem, “For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; for want of a horse the rider was lost; for want of a rider the message was lost; for want of the message the battle was lost; for want of the battle the war was lost; for want of the war the kingdom was lot; and all for the want of a horseshoe nail.” Not one of us can change the world, but every little act of love, no matter how insignificant it might seem, makes a difference in the big picture.  No act of love or kindness is ever a waste.

 

2)   And related to that, love is the most powerful force in the universe.  More powerful than hatred.  More powerful than emptiness.  More powerful than fear.  More powerful than despair.

 

3)   Naming is an act of love.  This book uses the concept of “Naming” someone or something to mean more than just attaching a symbolic handle to it.  To Name someone or something, you see it clearly for who or what it is – you see the essence of its isness (to borrow a favourite term from Dr. David Deane), and you love it.

 

4)   It is the origin of one of my favourite quotes about love.  “Love isn’t how you feel. It’s what you do.”

 

5)   Hope.  In the world of this book, as in the so-called “real world” outside of the book, evil is real and evil is powerful in both big and small ways.  And yet in the world of the book, as in the world outside of the book, evil can be overcome and defeated.  Evil will never have the last word.

 

So go ahead – track down a copy, and give it a read/re-read. (And if you are so inclined, read the other books about the Murray family while you’re at it!). Even though this book was written 52 years ago, it feels as relevant as if it had been published today.