From Ms M. Camilleri

I am not sure how relevant this is to the recent debate on prayer groups, but I would like to paraphrase a chapter from C S Lewis’ Reflections on the Psalms to explain what draws me back to my own prayer group again and again.

Mine is a charismatic group, so praise plays an important part. At first my rational self found it a bit odd to spend the first half-hour or more on songs of praise. My irrational self enjoyed it. C S Lewis goes through these conflicting sensations step by step, first asking what sort of a God could “demand” praise from us, as we are told in the psalms, and why even inanimate objects are supposed to join in! He eventually comes to the conclusion that God does not actually demand praise, but only in the sense that a beautiful sunset or work of art demands to be praised, vocally, in the company of others, and that if we failed to do so, or had no one to share it with, we would be missing out. Lewis comments that a good critic will always find something good to say about a play, whereas a bad one will just tear it to bits. He concludes that the ability to praise and the habit of praise is almost a reflection of our mental health and of course conducive to it.

So this Anglican perspective on Jewish literature chimed with my own unarticulated sensation and, over the years, an awe of all creation including human beings with all their physical beauty, wit, generosity and sheer genius (and their quirks), has grown in parallel with a greater awe of their Creator.

It might just be age, but I like to think that the years of training in the art of praise have had something to do with it, and I’m not about to give it up.

Mary Camilleri

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