Heaven on earth Quote by C.S. Lewis
““If tribulation is a necessary element in the redemption we must anticipate that it will never cease till God sees the world to be either redeemed or no further redeemable. A Christian cannot, therefore, believe any of those who promise that if only some reform in our economic, political, or hygienic system were made, a heaven on earth would follow. This might seem to have a discouraging effect on the social worker, but it is not found in practice to discourage him. On the contrary, a strong sense of our common miseries, simply as men, is at least as good a spur to the removal of all the miseries we can, as any of those wild hopes which tempt men to seek their realisation by breaking the moral law and prove such dust and ashes when they are realised. If applied to individual life, the doctrine that an imagined heaven on earth as necessary for vigorous attempts to remove present evil, would at once reveal its absurdity. Hungry men seek food and sick men healing none the less because they know that after the meal or the cure the ordinary ups and downs of life still await them.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Problem of Evil and Human Action, 1945
True change must come from confronting suffering, not from promised utopias; hope without effort is futile.
In simple terms: Change requires facing hardship, not waiting for perfect world.
Act on real problems, not imagined heavens.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- social work
- community organizing
- personal resilience
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What practical steps can we take today?
- How do we balance hope with action?
Idealistic visions can distract from tangible solutions.