Monday Morning Food for Thought–Wilbur Rees’ 3 dollars worth of God please

I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a warm cup of milk, or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please”.

This is quoted by Chuck Swindoll in his book, Improving Your Serve (where he cites Tim Hansel’s book When I Relax I feel Guilty as the source) in the second chapter, after which Dr. Swindoll makes these additional comments:

“That’s it. Our inner ‘self’ doesn’t want to dump God entirely, just keep Him at a comfortable distance. Three dollars of Him is sufficient. A sack full, nothing more. Just enough to keep my guilt level below the threshold of pain, just enough to guarantee escape from eternal flames. But certainly not enough to make me nervous, to start pushing around my prejudices or nit-picking at my lifestyle. Enough is enough!”