In a Facebook conversation with my friend Rosie, we got into a brief discussion about Brother Lawrence and whether he was super-spiritual or only seemed so because he lived in a monastery and we do not...Perhaps our lives seem more mundane, as Rosie pointed out. Or perhaps it was easier because he lived in a monastery. Was Brother Lawrence as honest about the trials of spirituality as he was the joys and rewards of it?
Here is my response on Facebook:
"I still have my moments of doubt...I was browsing Lewis' Letters to Malcolm this evening and felt impressed by the earthy honesty of his statment: 'Well, let's now at any rate come clean. Prayer is irksome. An excuse to omit it is never unwelcome. When it is over, this casts a feeling of relief and holiday over the rest of the day. We are reluctant to begin. We are delighted to finish. While we are at prayer, but not while we are reading a novel or solving a cross-word puzzle, any trifle is enough to distract us' (113). Now THAT I can relate to!"So, because he is a funny, earthy guy who also calls me to deeper, truer levels of spirituality, intellectualism and imagination (often all at the same time), Lewis wins the coveted slot of Book 2! It's a reread (this will be my third time, I think) but as Lewis himself said, rereading books is a sign of a true book lover. I wonder if he ever imagined how many would read and reread his own books?
Stay tuned!
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I'm glad you've got the edition with the original title (Prayer: The Transforming Friendship). Houston didn't like it when they reissued it with a new title that was completely contrary to the tone of the book (The Transforming Power of Prayer) - my emphasis.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was Lewis who also said something about how rereading a book later in life is like reading a whole different book because you're a different person. So if you buy a good book that you can reread once a decade you're really buying 6 or 7 books.
I might not have been as likely to buy it with that title, though I know I could've trusted Houston to put the topic of power in its proper place. How horrible to have someone rename your book in a way you don't like!
ReplyDeleteI recently perused a short article on prayer that described it as "a resource for God's power" (without the necessary disclaimers or limits) - as if conversation with God was simply a means to this end! I know what Brother Lawrence (and Lewis) would have to say to that!