If then you have not been faithful in
the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? Luke 16:11
If the
first and lowest operation of pain shatters the illusion that all is well, the
second shatters the illusion that what we have, whether good or bad in itself,
is our own and enough for us. Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our
thoughts to God when everything is going well with us. We 'have all we want' is
a terrible saying when 'all' does not include God. We find God an interruption.
As St Augustine says somewhere, 'God wants to give us something, but cannot, because
our hands are full—there's nowhere for Him to put it.' Or as a friend of mine
said, 'We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for
emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it.' Now God, who has made us,
knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him. Yet we will not seek it
in Him as long as he leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be
looked for. While what we call 'our own life' remains agreeable we will not
surrender it to Him. What then can God do in our interests but make 'our own
life' less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible source of false
happiness?
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