Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

And I enjoyed every minute of it. This is, by far, one of the most complex books that I've ever read. Not necessarily in terms of structure - Lewis keeps the chapters mercifully brief. His vocabulary is immense, as is his knowledge of general philosophy and Christian church history. Most of his points went above my head. I'm an amateur student, still new to most points of religious, literary and logical criticism. However, Lewis gives me hope that an intellectual as impressive as he can examine, understand and appreciate the Christian faith as real and authentic. Maybe, someday, I'll be able to read this again and understand more of it.If you're ready for some mind-numbing theology and vocabulary, logic that will stretch your knowledge and thinking, read it. If you're looking for a simple guide or easy reading, this may not be for you.

This is one of those books where I found myself taking an hour to read a paragraph, which I had previously read. I just needed to ruminate on Lewis' thoughts. It's not theological in the sense of Mere Christianity or The Four Loves- he is clear here and elsewhere that he does not want to write a devotional book and indeed thinks he has little to offer on the subject, as he is untrained in these areas. So while he covers the same areas as Richard Foster's Prayer, this book has a decidedly different feel. It is personal, as if it were a collection of real letters. And thus these are just letters. Often Lewis doesn't fully explain his ideas in an understandable way, to make it appear as if he is not writing to the general public, but only to Malcolm- a friend with whom he has a lot in common, with that secret language that all friends have. I appreciated too how personal asides were imagined, like "Your son is very welcome. We do *not* dress for dinner normally." and "Please tell Betty I do not need a bed downstairs, I am feeling much better." and, contrary to what Walter Hooper would have us believe, references to his conjugal life with his former wife. Lewis' musings have the advantage of coming at the end of his life, with the full wisdom available. I especially liked his thoughts on getting whatever we ask for in faith vs. Jesus prayer in Gethsemane, difficulties in prayer focus, and the effectatiousness of our prayers. In the end, we want to be heard, even more than having our prayers answered. Lewis is simultaneously so deep and so clear. As he said, he wrote for the common man. So as I read him, I find myself constantly thinking, "Yes, I didn't believe that before, but I see that now."

What can we say? Unquestionably, this is Lewis's finest book: his warmest, his calmest, his most pellucid writing. Cheerful meditations on liturgical reform, petitionary prayer, the Eucharist, purgatory, and Joy ("the serious business of Heaven"). A book to be cherished, a book to be taken to heart. Even persons who are disinclined to venerate C S Lewis will be won over, I imagine, by this slender -- but infinitely magnanimous and supremely luminous -- offering. "One of the purposes for which God instituted prayer may have been to bear witness that the course of events is not governed like a state, but created like a work of art to which every being makes its contribution." This book on prayer is a work of art, salvific and salutary. And now we will be silent, lest our superlatives run away with us!

Lewis's letters to a fictional friend address many of the perplexities about prayer and inhibitions to prayer likely to plague anyone who's ever thought much about it, and his writing is, as always, a pleasure to read. I'm from a non-religious background and found the practice of verbal prayer attractive but hard to make any sense of. This book helped me to get over some of my intellectual blocks to prayer and actually pray. (Two other recommendations for the prayer-impaired or anyone wanting to enrich their understanding of prayer: Ann and Barry Ulanov's "Primary Speech" and Karl Rahner's "The Need and the Blessing of Prayer.")