"We are far too easily pleased."

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of rewards and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds 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 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.” A Mind Awake, p 168, C.S. Lewis

As a younger woman, I was always fascinated by this quote. I loved the image of a little child playing in the mud with the sea sparkling in the distance.

Now that I am an older woman (not much, but it counts for something, right), I am able to see the real meaning in this quote. Our desires as humans, finite beings, are so weak compared to the reality that God wishes to share with us. Everything is better in Him. Everything. 

I started to really apply this to my life and am now learning that the desires I have are so much better in my Lord. He has things planned for me that I could not even imagine. And they will be infinitely better than the things I have now. I seek pleasure in things, but I have no idea the joys and pleasure that He will supply me. The greatest of all being in Him. He show me how weak my desires truly are when the time comes. 

So look for that offer for the holiday by the sea. Ask God to make your desires His desires. How much more joyful and beautiful will our lives be if this is the case?