Now, if we are made for
heaven, the desire for our proper place will
be already in us, but not yet attached to
the true object, and will even appear as the
rival of that object.
Lewis notes a longing inside for something that we initially cannot place. This is present in all and drives a thirst for better things. Often misplaced before we know Jesus to earthly materials or endeavors...the feeling or idea that there is something better to be for us. When misplaced the soul despairs at the realization of the failure of the rival object to perform that which was expected. Always restless to find the true source of our inner longing -Jesus Christ.
If a transtemporal, transfinite good is our
real destiny, then any other good on which
our desire fixes must be in some degree
fallacious, must bear at best only a
symbolical relation to what will truly
satisfy.
Only God is good. Creation and the Spirit's work in christians demonstrate this in part. Desire for other is less. Yet we know not how much less as now we see him through a glass dimly.
If our religion is
something objective, then we must never
avert our eyes from those elements in it
which seem puzzling or repellent; for it
will be precisely the puzzling or the
repellent which conceals what we do not
yet know and need to know.
Joshua 1:8
In the end that Face which is the delight or
the terror of the universe must be turned
upon each of us either with one expression
or with the other, either conferring glory
inexpressible or inflicting shame that can
never be cured or disguised.
To please God...to be a real ingredient in the
divine happiness...to be loved by God, not
merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist
delights in his work or a father in a son—it
seems impossible, a weight or burden of
glory which our thoughts can hardly
sustain. But so it is.
For glory meant good
report with God, acceptance by God,
response, acknowledgment, and welcome
into the heart of things.
We can be left
utterly and absolutely outside—repelled,
exiled, estranged, finally and unspeakably
ignored. On the other hand, we can be
called in, welcomed, received,
acknowledged.
To be known by God affectionately and included in his family is the ultimate glory of the believer. To delight God?! It sounds incomprehensible. On the other hand, the idea of watching as the family of God gathers in worship and fellowship from the outside is unbearable to me. O to be a good and faithful servant to Him.
There are no ordinary people. You have
never talked to a mere mortal. Nations,
cultures, arts, civilization—these are
mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of
a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke
with, work with, marry, snub, and
exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting
splendours.
Quotes from The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis
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