{"id":6917,"date":"2019-05-24T11:28:54","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T19:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/?p=6917"},"modified":"2019-05-24T11:29:09","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T19:29:09","slug":"how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Pray, ch 13: Before the Burning Bush"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"

Moses before the burning bush: Giovanni Francesco Penni (d. c. 1528)<\/em><\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

The 13th chapter of How To Pray<\/em> from HarperOne is a brief excerpt from chapter 15 of Letters to Malcolm<\/em>, accompanied by two sidebars: the poem \u201cFootnote to all Prayers\u201d from Poems<\/em> \u2013 and paragraph 27 of chapter 6 in The Four Loves<\/em>. Here we are dealing with an issue of much importance to Lewis.<\/p>\n

It is again that issue of Realty; here, the real me praying to the real God, vs. my unreal ideas and feelings about myself and God. Lewis says that we must get beyond our false ideas if the Bush is going to burn \u2013 if we are going to be where Moses was on the mountain: face to face with a God we cannot fully know, and unescapably faced with our own finitude and uncleanness.<\/p>\n

We were made to know God. But we mess ourselves up in that relationship. We know so little. Our feelings get in the way. Our ideas can be so wrong. Our motives are always in question. And on top of it all: the immeasureable brightness and holiness, the ineffable being and presence of the Glory of God. It\u2019s as if prayer is impossible from the start. Lewis wants us to be aware of this dilemma so that, by God\u2019s grace and the share we have in the work of Christ on our behalf, we can get beyond it.<\/p>\n

The whole chapter reminds me of a hymn, which is a good commentary on Lewis\u2019s point:<\/p>\n

Eternal Light! Eternal Light!
\nHow pure the soul must be
\nWhen, placed within Thy searching sight,
\nIt shrinks not, but with calm delight
\nCan live and look on Thee.<\/p>\n

The spirits that surround Thy throne
\nMay bear the burning bliss;
\nBut that is surely theirs alone,
\nSince they have never, never known
\nA fallen world like this.<\/p>\n

Oh, how shall I, whose native sphere
\nIs dark, whose mind is dim,
\nBefore th\u2019 Ineffable appear,
\nAnd on my natural spirit bear
\nThe uncreated beam?<\/p>\n

There is a way for man to rise
\nTo that sublime Abode;
\nAn Offering and a Sacrifice,
\nA Holy Spirit\u2019s energies,
\nAn Advocate with God:<\/p>\n

These, these prepare us for the sight
\nOf holiness above;
\nThe sons of ignorance and night
\nMay dwell in the eternal Light,
\nThrough the eternal Love.<\/p>\n

\nThomas Binney (1798-1874)<\/p>\n

Here is Lewis\u2019s passion: to meet God on \u201cthe holy ground.\u201d May it be our passion \u2013 and delight \u2013 as well.<\/p>\n

Footnote: read Hebrews 10.<\/p>\n

[image source: https:\/\/arthive.com\/artists\/1590~Giovanni_Francesco_Penny\/works\/17687~God_appears_to_Moses_in_the_Burning_Bush]<\/p>\n

Reference: C. S. Lewis, How To Pray: Reflections and Essays,<\/em> (New York, HarperOne, 2018), ISBN-13: 978-0062847133.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013
\nPlease note that the content and viewpoints of Rev. Beckmann are his own and are not necessarily those of the C.S. Lewis Foundation. We have not edited his writing in any substantial way and have permission from him to post his content.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

\"\"The Rev. David Beckmann has for many years been involved in both the Church and education. He helped to start a Christian school in South Carolina, tutored homeschoolers, and has been adjunct faculty for both Covenant College and the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. He founded the C.S. Lewis Society of Chattanooga in 2005. He has spoken extensively on C.S Lewis, and was the Director of the C.S Lewis Study Centre at The Kilns from 2014-2015. He is currently a Regional Representative for the C.S. Lewis Foundation in Chattanooga.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u201cFootnote to all Prayers\u201d from Poems \u2013 and paragraph 27 of chapter 6 in The Four Loves. Here we are dealing with an issue of much importance to Lewis. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Pray, ch 13: Before the Burning Bush - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Pray, ch 13: Before the Burning Bush - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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 \u201cFootnote to all Prayers\u201d from Poems \u2013 and paragraph 27 of chapter 6 in The Four Loves. Here we are dealing with an issue of much importance to Lewis. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-24T19:28:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-24T19:29:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Giovanni-Francesco-Penni-moses-300x223.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Beckmann\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Beckmann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/\",\"name\":\"How To Pray, ch 13: Before the Burning Bush - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Giovanni-Francesco-Penni-moses-300x223.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-24T19:28:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-24T19:29:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e6e17559da3e8142bc71b344b6748763\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Giovanni-Francesco-Penni-moses.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Giovanni-Francesco-Penni-moses.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":743},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How To Pray, ch 13: Before the Burning Bush\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis\",\"description\":\"A Blog of the C.S. Lewis Foundation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e6e17559da3e8142bc71b344b6748763\",\"name\":\"David Beckmann\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/author\/david-beckmann\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How To Pray, ch 13: Before the Burning Bush - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How To Pray, ch 13: Before the Burning Bush - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis","og_description":"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 \u201cFootnote to all Prayers\u201d from Poems \u2013 and paragraph 27 of chapter 6 in The Four Loves. Here we are dealing with an issue of much importance to Lewis. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/","og_site_name":"Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis","article_published_time":"2019-05-24T19:28:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-05-24T19:29:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Giovanni-Francesco-Penni-moses-300x223.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"David Beckmann","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Beckmann","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/","url":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/","name":"How To Pray, ch 13: Before the Burning Bush - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Giovanni-Francesco-Penni-moses-300x223.jpg","datePublished":"2019-05-24T19:28:54+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-24T19:29:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e6e17559da3e8142bc71b344b6748763"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Giovanni-Francesco-Penni-moses.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Giovanni-Francesco-Penni-moses.jpg","width":1000,"height":743},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/how-to-pray-ch-13-before-the-burning-bush\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How To Pray, ch 13: Before the Burning Bush"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/","name":"Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis","description":"A Blog of the C.S. Lewis Foundation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e6e17559da3e8142bc71b344b6748763","name":"David Beckmann","url":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/author\/david-beckmann\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6917"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6922,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6917\/revisions\/6922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}