“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.” -CS Lewis
I have been thinking about this Lewis quote a lot over the past week or two. We are far too easily pleased- we live from fleeting pleasure to fleeting pleasure. We come up feeling empty after the pleasure has passed. So we turn to more pleasure until we have exhausted all possible avenues. We have turned gifts from God into idols. We live off of creation rather than the Creator. Our souls need nourishment- they will either rot or flourish. It never stays stagnant. We were made to worship and what we worship propels us towards one of those extremes.
There is infinite joy- a stream that never dries up waiting to fill us. The only thing that separates us from partaking is our lack of discipline. It takes more patience, more work, more separation from what the world deems as “good” and “worthwhile” to truly drink of that eternal fountain of mirth.
We cannot afford to lower our gaze from the Source. The source of life, joy, hope, strength, goodness, and peace.
Man’s purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. If that is not where our hearts are, we will forever be in the slums making mud pies.