In an earlier post, I showed what I think was one area where Proverbs endorses a “fake it till you make it” strategy for becoming wise. It is a strategy that C. S. Lewis seemed to recommend in his book Mere Christianity.
After I posted, I saw an article on Breitbart.com about the recently-deceased Hollywood actor Orson Bean and how Lewis’ book was instrumental in his conversion from unbelief to Christianity. That led me to his account at the Powerline blog in which he describes how he was converted.
Beside other vices, Bean was a habitual substance abuser. Realizing that his behavior was self-destructive but not easily abandoned brought him to a 12-step program. There, he heard about a “Higher Power” and didn’t know how to connect to “it” to help him with his behavior. He ended up asking a colorful character in the group named Bobby for advice.
“Get down on your knees,” he told me, ” and thank God every morning. Then, do it again at night.”
“But I don’t think I believe in God.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Just do it.”
“Why do I have to get down on my knees?”
“He likes it,” said Bobby. And that’s all he said to me. He stood there looking at me for a minute and then I said OK and thanked him and he took off.
…That night, when it was time for me to go to sleep, I got down on my knees beside the Murphy bed, feeling like a complete fool, and spoke out loud.
“If there’s anybody there,” I said, “thank you for the day.” I had finally decided, I suppose, that since all else had failed, I would follow the instructions. That night, I slept like a log and in the morning I got down on my knees again and said, “If there’s anybody there, thank you for my night’s sleep.”
I kept doing this, day after day, and without my even being aware of it, it stopped feeling foolish to me. It started to feel good, in fact. After a while, I began to sense that my prayers were being heard. I didn’t know by who or what, but it was a good feeling. Then, before I knew it, I felt as if there was Something or Someone there who knew me and cared about me. Actually loved me.
Orson Bean
This wasn’t Christianity, of course. But behaving in a different way than he ever had before opened his mind to new possibilities. So, when he read C. S. Lewis, he was ready to listen to Lewis’ arguments. Bean imposed a discipline on his body and mouth that was inconsistent with the secular life he had been living and that, he now acknowledged, had not worked out for him. The new habit he developed was only a piece of what was necessary for him to become a believer. But it allowed the process to take place. Changing his body’s position and saying words twice a day ended up changing his mind.
For good and ill, small changes in your behavior can lead to a great transformation in your thinking and even personality.