The Weight of Glory

"Our Lord fins our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like and 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. We are far too easily pleased."
As a child I remember how easily placated I was with the simplest of activities. One obvious example of this is when I was a child, I was much happier with a bowl of candy then a steak dinner. I didn't realize that I was giving up a delicacy and a treat for the sake of something that wasn't that great and was actually bad for me. Although this analogy isn't totally universal, it serves its purpose. As children we are generally complacent with our situation even if there is something far greater within our grasp. As we grow old we tend to think that we have sorted out our issues and we are now wise. We know what we truly want and what will make us happy. Unfortunately we are just as blind as we were as children. As Lewis said, "we are far too easily pleased."It is true that things like alcohol and sex (in the right context) are wonderful things that God gave us, but they are not what we truly want. There is "infinite joy" that all we have to do is accept, but we are too blind to see this most of the time.
One of the redemptive qualities in this is what Lewis says later: "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." This gives us hope for our childish misgivings and inattention to our true calling. However, this is not a "get out of jail free card." There are many things that are dangerous to devote our attention to. We cannot idolize false gods, devoting our love to things that will not last. Conversely, it does not mean that the thing itself is evil. These things-the beauty, the memory of our past-are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found." An example of this can be seen in nature. God calls us to have reverence for nature, but we should not see nature as God. We can see the beauty of nature as a reflection of God's magnificence, but we should not confuse it with God.

Another part of this essay that I found insightful was Lewis statement about how we need to focus on religion, especially to the areas that we don't fully understand. "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." I think we as a culture have gotten to accustomed to ignoring things we find difficult. It is much easier to never discuss predestination then it is to earnestly discuss it. It is particularly frustrating since we are finite beings and there is no way for us to comprehend all the intricacies of infinity and an omnipotent God. But this does not mean we should simply be complacent with what we are told. God wants us to question, He designed us with a longing for Him, to better understand Him with are long search. Another example of this is something like gay marriage. I do not want to pull in any argument for one side or the other in regards to this topic. But what I will say, is that it seems easy to ignore the problem and say "out of sight out of mind." I think it is really important for us to engage in discussion and to address issues, openly and honestly. Again, it might be the case that we do not find an answer, but we cannot ignore issues just because they are puzzling or repellent.

The final part of this article that I want to address in this blog was the idea of glory that we each receive and how we can support and help each other in our personal journeys. The first thing that Lewis talks about is the completely altered definition of glory. It is neither the fame we associate with celebrities in some sort of hierarchy, nor the luminosity of a lightbulb or star. Rather, it is the idea that God acknowledges us, and He tells us that He is pleased with what we have done. The highest accolade we could  ever receive. I love the idea that Lewis suggests that, "Perfect humility dispenses with modesty." It seems counterintuitive at first until you consider the idea a little deeper. If we are perfectly humble, and we truly understand that our lives, our being comes from God and we can do nothing without him, then why should we be modest? We should delight in the achievements that God has given us with Him. We should praise him to the fullest because when humble, we understand that our achievements were not completed by us alone, but through God.
The next stage of this glory comes through our ability to help others and bring them along with us. We need to affirm them while still making sure we hold them to the same standards we want them to hold us to. This part of our journey is so important because "next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses." All of our souls are immortal, and the gravity of that situation demands respect. This does not mean we cannot have fun and enjoy ourselves. But we cannot take lightly the harming of one of these souls. We have a large effect on those around us and we need to be cognizant of that. "All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations." Our neighbors can become "immortal horrors or everlasting splendors." This is just another reason why there is a weight attached to glory.