Weight of Glory

I thought that the "Weight of Glory" by C.S. Lewis had a number of interesting and beautiful quotes in it. My favorite is found on page 3, where Lewis says, "These things-the beauty, the memory of our own past-are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistakenfor the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers." This quote reminded me of a quote that was presented the other day(again, one of C.S. Lewis') that finished by stating, "Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home." This quote also dealt with the happineses,the pleasant, and the beautiful things of this life. It does not point to them as the goal that we must achieve but rather as stops along the way to something better. The first quote predicts the result of forgetting that the inns of the second quote are only inns. Earthly beauty and pleasure can not truly satisfy us by itself. If we expect that it will, we will be heartbroken when it leaves us longing for something that it cannot fulful.

Another quote that I really liked was "Perfet humility dispenses with modesty." We talked a little bit in class about what this quote means. The connection was made between this kind of humility, and a child who brings a picture to his parent, so delighted in the work he has put into it for them. It is hard for us to really understand and experiance what this quote means because, like Lewis admits, praise and appreciation can quickly lead us down the path of self-admiration. The only way to continue in this true humility is to constantly looking to God and giving him the glory, the credit, and the thanks for anything we are able to do. Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are his workmanship, created in Jesus Christ unto good works, that God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." This passage reminds us that even the most wonderful good deeds that we can give to our heavenly Father would not be possible in our own strenght, but require his grace. When we remember this, we are able to have joy in our works without falling into the pride of crediting them to ourselves.