In chapter 14 of How To Pray from HarperOne, C. S. Lewis raises the issue of the benefit of a sacramental understanding of the Creation in which we dwell and worship. The summary question, provided by the chapter heading, is “How Can We Be Like David and Pray with Delight?” The obvious answer is to […]
Author: David Beckmann
How To Pray, ch 13: Before the Burning Bush
The 13th chapter of How To Pray from HarperOne is a brief excerpt from chapter 15 of Letters to Malcolm, accompanied by two sidebars: the poem “Footnote to all Prayers” from Poems – and paragraph 27 of chapter 6 in The Four Loves. Here we are dealing with an issue of much importance to Lewis. […]
How To Pray ch 12: Abandon to God
In chapter 12 of the new HarperOne book, How To Pray, we have a meditation on a specific prayer by Lewis, originally in his essay “A Slip of the Tongue” found in The Weight of Glory. He relates an experience wherein he was praying this prayer from the Book of Common Prayer: “O GOD, the […]
The Professor and the chickens
One day I was doing the usual care-taking around The Kilns, when I heard the service-entry door buzzer. I opened the door to see who was there and met two men. The younger fellow, speaking on behalf of the old man with him, asked if they might see the house. The reason for their request […]
“Mere Christianity” – where it came from…
The Revd. Richard Baxter (1615-1691) The source of C. S. Lewis’ phrase “mere Christianity,” according to Walter Hooper: “You know not of what Party I am of, nor what to call me; I am sorrier for you in this than for my self; if you know not, I will tell you, I am a CHRISTIAN, […]