Unequal Comparisons

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. We are far too easily pleased. — CS Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Lewis, with prose that is sharper than it first appears, drives the point home that we know to be true even before he reaches it—we are far too easily pleased. One might safely assume that Lewis had been reading Paul, especially at the heights of Romans 8.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18, CSB)

If Paul considered it, then we would be well advised to do the same. And maybe that is precisely the problem with our unimaginative preoccupation with mud pies, we simply do not pause long enough to compare what we have in our hands with the promise of our inheritance. We have failed to account for the poverty we grasp at while the riches of eternity await, and are now here.

To be sure, our hands are stained with the grime we’ve collected in this world—some of which has stuck from careless pilgrims passing by, much more of which we’ve willingly wallowed in—yet clean robes and festive celebrations await those who abide in Christ. Our suffering feels heavy and far from momentary, yet even here, the weight of eternal glory often goes untested, unaccounted for, unconsidered.

Suffering and glory are unequal comparisons, yet the former is more often the victor in our thinking. The immediate clouds our view and the greater glory fades from focus. But make no mistake, there is an incomparable glory coming. The outstretched arms of the Saviour await, the smiling face of Abba Father who sings triumphantly, “Well done and welcome,” are knocking at the door. No more mud pies, instead, the great wedding feast is about to begin.