Considering holiness

I think holiness is going continue to be my theme for a little while. The desire for it, the failure to achieve it; and the basic question, what is it? I'm going to draw on the Bible, of course, but also other books and writers, in print and online, and perhaps especially (at the start anyway), on The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis, which I an rereading again.

I have no overriding mission with these posts, except to learn. I am no expert on holiness (far from it). I'll be wondering aloud, seeking clarity, and investigating the thoughts of others on the subject.

To start with, a familiar quotation from Lewis:

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” From The Weight of Glory