Letters to Malcolm

Letters to Malcolm By C.S. Lewis

Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer by C.S. Lewis was Lewis's last book written. The manuscript was completed in May 1963, and Lewis died November 22, 1963. This book was written after A Grief Observed. To many, it confirmed that Lewis recovered his faith after being severely tested by the death of his wife (Joy).

This letter of the story suggested that what we call prayer is actually soliloquy. That Dream makes it too like Pantheism and dragged into rhyme. That in two hands, Man either disregards God as other than oneself, or they think God as an Idol - daring to treat His existence as somehow parallel to one's own. The letter suggests that God is still speaking when liars and blasphemers speak. It suggests that we are his creatures and he is our creator with a given relation between the two. But we must also remember not to make a blur between the distinction of the creation of Man and the Incarnation of God. "The Pure light walks the earth: the darkness received into the heart of Deity, is there swallowed up. Where, except in uncreated light, can the darkness be drowned?"

Reading through this letter, I saw questions, answers, prayers, and uncertainty. To me it was like C.S. Lewis was trying to show that he himself was uncertain to many things and was trying to find his path again. To find the track that God wants him to be on. Although God knows what we are going to do before it happens, and he is having us do it for a reason (either to learn, or to teach). We all can be very confused and lost at one point or another. Lewis was lost himself, and through it all he was able to recover and find his faith. To take the path that he was meant to be on. Even in the first paragraph of the letter he is questioning prayer. He says prayer is just like soliloquy: Someone talking to himself. Right after he questions prayer though, he brings up a poem (which is said to have been found in an old notebook with no author name attached).

This poem gets me thinking about where I have come from. I haven't always been a Christian - there once was a time where I was an Atheist. I felt empty and lost, seeking through things within myself without even knowing what I was looking for. It was like God was there, trying to show me the way; but I would not let him in. I felt better knowing I was in control and I was the controller of my own actions, no one else. The first time I attended a church, I was like this is stupid. How can anyone believe in this kind of thing. Somehow though I just kept going and eventually I let God into my heart. Although I have made my mistakes as being a Christian and I know I am not on the full path He wants me to be, I am well on my way.

It seems like this is how Lewis was feeling as well. He was lost and didn't feel like anyone was in control but himself. He needed to find God again. Lewis was able to