The child learns to speak because his father speaks to him. He learns the speech of his father. So we learn to speak to God because God has spoken to us and speaks to us. By means of the speech of the Father in heaven his children learn to speak with him. Repeating God’s own words after him, we begin to pray to him.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906-1945, in Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible
“Joy is the serious business of heaven.” – C. S. Lewis, in Letters to Malcolm
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” – Nehemiah 8:10
A good reminder from our old friend C.S. Lewis:
It is, of course, quite true that God will not love you any the less, or have less use for you, if you happen to have been born with a very second-rate brain. He has room for people with very little sense, but He wants every one to use what sense they have. … God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all.
– from Mere Christianity
The ordinary becomes something extraordinary when God is involved. The work of the Holy Spirit does not have to look supernatural. He works through our work, using earthly materials and very human capabilities.
Central Reflections 