The Posture of Prayer

At the very least, they [humans] can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you [Wormwood] must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls…Teach them to estimate the value of each prayer by their success in producing the desired feeling.
– The Screwtape Letters | C.S. Lewis

In this latest dispatch to Wormwood, Screwtape advises him how to disrupt the Christian’s communion with God, which we ought to call prayer. Wormwood is to persuade the Christian that the body and posture does not really matter. For the Faith is only a “spiritual” thing. This way of thinking, prevalent in our own time, divides the human being in two, often with the assumption that the really real “you” is the immaterial, the “spiritual,” the intellect. The body seems to then be only the casing, the wrapper, of our true selves. Such way of thinking runs deep in the world and also the Church. It also dovetails into the supposed desire of being “authentic.” What this typically means is, “only if/when I feel a certain way will I participate. For, to do otherwise, would not be true to myself.” But that is like a young child determining that he will not walk until he feels like learning the art of it. Of course, unless the child begin with baby steps–stumbling, falling, getting back up and falling again–he will never be able to walk to a friend’s house, run to the aid of another, ascend the heights of mountains beautiful. “Be true to yourself” be damned. (I mean that in the most godliest of senses.) Rather, much to the horror of Screwtape, we ought to begin inhabiting the bodily practices that mirror the spiritual habits. For, whatever [our] bodies do affects [our] souls. This is why our Eucharistic life–worship, prayer–involves so much of our bodies, for we are embodied souls. What affects the soul affects the body and vice versa. And since it is far easier to move the body that we might move the soul, let us begin where we can. In the Anglican tradition we stand to praise, the erectness of our bodies demonstrating the upwardness of our praise to our God who is in heaven. We sit to listen, which is a posture of a student to a teacher. We do not “stand” in authority over Holy Scripture; we sit in submission to it. Lastly, we kneel to pray, for kneeling is the posture of humble petition and request.

Screwtape also advises Wormwood that he is to have the Christian man estimate the value of each prayer by [his] success in producing the desired feeling. In other words, prayer “works” if I “feel” it working. Of course, how one measures if one feels enough, or feels rightly, is entirely subjective. Our feelings are also subjected to being tossed to and fro, carried about by a variety of winds that blow about us. If/when we place virtue and efficacy of our prayers on how we feel at that moment, we inadvertently cripple ourselves by the very act by which we are meant to be drawn deeper into rest in God. We also end up attempting to accomplish by our own strength the things for which we pray. “When they meant to pray for courage, let them really be trying to feel brave,” advises Screwtape. And this way of thinking makes sense, if we need to hype ourselves and God up that he might give notice. This is like the prophets of Baal (1Kings 18) who danced around their altar, slashed and cut themselves, shouted and cried out in hopes that Baal would hear them. Elijah even derides them saying that they need to shout louder, just in case Baal is on the toilet. Yet with Elijah, there is no pomp and circumstance. The “efficacy” of his prayer is not bound to his performance nor how much he might feel his prayer working. Rather, “at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah came near and said, ‘Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel…’” Simple words, offered unto God with a posture of body that reflects the posture of the soul. This is a reason why there is such goodness in praying the Psalms, praying the Collects, and other composed prayers. Though they are written prayers, there is a simplicity to them, a deep richness and beauty in their theology, and they can help teach us that our attention is not to be placed on producing the desire affects of our prayers. Our attention, our gaze, is to be trained on the God who loves us.

Not Taking Offense

Once this habit is well established you have the delightful situation of a human saying things with the express purpose of offending and yet having a grievance when offence is taken. – The Screwtape Letters | C.S. Lewis

The “habit,” of which Wormwood speaks, is that of having an “over-sensitive interpretation of the tone and the context and the suspected intention.” To state it differently, it is to always assume innocence in the words and tone “I” use, and at the same time always assume malice and intent to harm in the words and speech of any other. This habit, once it has taken root,–worse still when it has begun to sprout in the heart–supposedly hears the “real” meaning through the words being said, and those left unsaid. An example. Let’s call her Mary and him Steve. At the dinner table, Steve might be asked, please pass the salt. But his heart, which has taken on this habit “hears” Mary say instead, you knew that I have had a long day. More than that, I worked hard on this meal. The least thing that you could do, Steve, is to think of me and so place the salt where it is easy to reach. In fact, you could have even offered it to me before I asked. Is that too much to ask? And so, Steve hears in Mary’s tone a grumble, a complaint, a hint of dissatisfaction, annoyance, and irritation. Of course, in all of this, Mary simply wanted the salt and so she asked for it.

The reason these types of circumstances arise–and we have all experienced something like them to a certain degree–is because love is lacking. For, to presume Mary’s intent as Steve does–to have this habit established–is only the working out of a lack of love. It may even be the case that Steve, in some way, is animated by hatred toward Mary, though not in the fullest and most cruel sense of the word. For what else can explain why he would willingly presume negatively on her when so simple a request–please pass the salt–was made? (Certainly, in other situations, “Mary” may speak out of hatred towards Steve. And so, in such circumstances, she is trying to communicate her irritation, if not disdain, for “Steve,” all the while not saying it outright. But that is not the scenario we consider here.)

Holy living, when it comes to our speech and our listening, sprouts forth out of the love God has for us. And from this soil of divine love grows our love for others. This means that as those who speak, we are able–and ought–to say words of blessing and encouragement to others and be honest with our intentions. We also are able to say things that are true, and at times hard for others to receive, all the while there being no animus in our heart. Do you think Jesus hated the woman caught in adultery when he said Go and sin no more? (Jn 8) Was it not, rather, love at work, naming her actions as sin and forgiving her all the same? So, holy living regarding our speech, sets out to speak the truth having first loved the other.

Holy living, when it comes to our listening to others, does not seek to be offended by others, fabricating false intentions in order for the listener to lash out in return. Rather, holy living regarding our listening is patient. It gives room to the one speaking. It desires to hear from the other. And, when words are spoken which can be taken either negatively or positively, it presumes–its first and immediate inclination is–to side with the positive interpretation of the words. In the case of Mary and Steve, Steve would have simply assumed that all Mary wanted was the salt. Period. No ulterior motive. No encoded message to decipher. While this little scenario with Mary and Steve and the salt may seem rather innocuous, the habits of the heart are shaped in deep ways by such small, and seemingly insignificant, experiences, just as a river carves its way deep into the rock only by its simple, persistent trickle.

So, rather than saying things with the express purpose of offending and yet having a grievance when offence is taken, as Screwtape encourages Wormwood, instill in your hearts, through habit, a holy love of one another, that we might speak truthfully and listen with humility.

Addressing Disappointment

“In every department of life [disappointment] marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing. [God] takes this risk because He has a curious fantasy of making all these disgusting little human vermin into what He calls His ‘free’ lovers and servants–‘sons’ is the word He uses...” – The Screwtape Letters | C.S. Lewis

Screwtape urges his nephew, Wormwood, to heighten the man’s [over whom Wormwood is charged] disappointment in the Christian faith. It does not matter really what the disappoint is over, but the focus is to be placed on the incongruence of the initial dreamy aspirations which have given way to the “laborious doing.” (We might call this “laborious doing” the persevering in the faith. The long obedience in the same direction.) The temptation is for Wormwood to insinuate that the incongruence–the disappointment–is a sign that this Christian life is not really worth it.

As humans, we all face disappointments of various kinds. We all have dreamy aspirations of one sort which, at some point, give way to the harder, yet still good, work of perseverance through the disappointment. When it comes to the Christian life, maybe one’s aspirations were that life would get easier; or that all–or at least most–of life’s problems would be sorted out. Maybe one has assumed that quite quickly after coming into the Faith, all affection for sin would immediately stop. So, when such things are not one’s immediate reality, disappointment creeps in. It can be exasperated all the more when one becomes aware that, to make headway in these areas of life, there is a “laborious doing” in which one needs to engage. A putting the hand to the plow. Or as St. Paul has said: “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” (Rom 6:13)

Why, we might ask, does God not simply snap his fingers together–or whatever the divine equivalent might be–and simply do away with all disordered affections? For certainly if that was how God ran things, there would be little if any risk of one walking away from the Faith. Screwtape instructs us: “[God] takes this risk because He has a curious fantasy of making all these disgusting little human vermin into what He calls His ‘free’ lovers and servants–‘sons’ is the word He uses...” For our good and to the glory of God, he desires relationships with those who have received the blessing of being made in his image. And, so that this may be an honest and loving relationship–not an abusive one–the Lord desires “free lovers.” Disappointment, when left unchecked, can wreak havoc in this relationship. And, to make clear that the Lord is no prude, one simply needs to read–and ought to pray–the Psalms. They are chock-full of one’s disappointment. That disappointment is, at times, directed at God. But, they also shine a light forward: disappointment gives way to faith, hope, and love, just as the darkness of night gives way to the dawn of the morning. Or, in the words of Screwtape, the Psalms provide us a way to move from the initial dreamy aspirations into and through the laborious doing of the Faith.

Jesus, the true human, also leads us in this way. “Look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” (Hb 12:2-3) When disappointments surface, those unmet expectations and aspirations, look to the Psalms and take up their prayers. For they are given to the Church to lead her through the darkness. And, when disappointments surface, look to Jesus. For he, too, as man, faced disappointments of many kinds. And he persevered through them by the aid and grace of the Holy Spirit.

Pursuing Real Life

"Your business," says Screwtape to Wormwood, "is to fix his attention on the stream [of immediate sense experiences.] Teach him to call it 'real life' and don't let him ask what he means by 'real.'"
–The Screwtape Letters | C.S. Lewis

This is the great temptation that we see in the garden in Eden: that humanity might pursue the "sensible" things of this world–what can be experienced by the senses,–considering and coming to believe that they are the truly real realities. This, in turn, shifts our focus away from God, and the greater heavenly realities. With our eyes fixed on the things of this world, we loose our taste for heavenly things. We become accustomed to life here on earth, as if it were the only thing that is really real. Such a way of life breeds anxiety, hopelessness, and can give way to licentiousness: eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow we die. When the things of this world hold sway in our hearts, we set aside truth. We also distance ourselves from the life God has secured for us in Jesus Christ. We begin to forget his ways. More than that, we may begin to view his ways as a stumbling block, a disruption, to true and real life. As we have so many "sensible" things and experiences at our disposal, Screwtape's words are all the more pressing for us. We have so much that we can set before our eyes, as it were, just as Israel had the golden calf set before her eyes and heard proclaimed: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4)

In light of these temptations which are depicted for us by Screwtape, how are we to learn holy living? We are to take up the Holy Spirit's leading through the words of St. Paul: "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Col 3:1–2) This we are to do by being diligent in prayer, attending to weekly Eucharistic worship, caring for the needs of others. As we listen to the Lord through the Holy Scriptures, we are to take them by faith, entrusting that the Lord reveals to us to true things of heaven, the greater heavenly reality.

What might this look like? It could look like taking up Jesus' Comfortable Words in Mt 11: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." His words mean that there is rest he provides to us, rest that is from above, that may be given and experienced, even in the midst of trial and suffering. There is the encouragement–and instruction–to bring all things that are burdensome to you and place them before the Lord, knowing that he loves you enough to bear your burdens for you. There is also the recognition that you are not able to "go it alone." In fact, you were not made to be an independent being; you were made for God, to find your joy, love, rest, and life by being (and deepening) your relationship in him.

Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Let us not fall prey to the temptations of the devil to set our minds on the sensible things of the earth.

Grace & Peace,

– Matthew+