Apart from God

The following is a quote from C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite spiritual writers.


  "...Well, the moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first--wanting to be the center--wanting to be God, in fact. That was the sin of Satan: and that was the sin he taught the human race. Some people think the fall of man had something to do with sex, but that's a mistake. What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could "be like gods"--could set up on their own as if they had created themselves--be their own masters--invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history--money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery--the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.
  The reason why it can never succeed is this. God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it won't run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There isn't any other. That's why it's just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God can't give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it isn't there. There's no such thing."


I like this quote because it's a good response to atheism (C.S. Lewis was an atheist before he converted to Christianity) and to those who consider themselves "spiritual" without adhering to any Christian denomination, those who want a religion according to their beliefs. As another great spiritual writer said: "Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in You."  St. Augustine