Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and

"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither." Thus wrote C. S. Lewis, the great scholar, storyteller, and defender of faith, whose pen bridged the realms of intellect and imagination. In these few words lies a truth as radiant as the morning star: that man was not made merely for the dust beneath his feet, but for the light above his head. When Lewis speaks of aiming at heaven, he calls not only to the religious, but to every soul that seeks meaning beyond the fleeting pleasures of this world. For to fix one’s gaze upon the eternal is to gain both the spiritual and the earthly, but to live only for the earthly is to lose both—the spirit withers, and the world itself turns to ash in one’s hands.

This wisdom was born from Lewis’s own transformation. Once a skeptic, he wandered the barren fields of reason alone, dismissing faith as myth and heaven as fancy. But when at last his heart awakened to the divine, he saw that the world glowed with a deeper beauty than he had ever imagined. He understood that when we seek only the things of this world—power, pleasure, fame—we find them hollow and unsatisfying. Yet when we seek truth, goodness, and eternity, the world itself becomes more vivid, more alive. In seeking heaven, we learn to cherish the earth rightly; in seeking only earth, we corrupt both it and ourselves.

To aim at heaven is to order the soul toward the highest good—to live not merely for comfort, but for virtue; not for possession, but for purpose. The man who sets his heart on eternal truths—on love, justice, and righteousness—walks through the world as a blessing, and the world gives itself freely to him. But the one who chases the world itself, clutching at pleasure or wealth, finds that it slips through his grasp like sand. For earthly joy is a shadow that follows only when one walks toward the light; turn your back on the light, and the shadow flees.

Consider the life of Francis of Assisi, who was born into luxury and destined for comfort. Yet when he turned his heart toward heaven, renouncing wealth and status, the earth itself opened to him in abundance. Birds sang at his feet, the poor called him brother, and kings bowed their heads in his presence. He sought no earthly throne, yet the earth crowned him with reverence. His life was a living proof of Lewis’s truth—that in aiming for heaven, the riches of earth follow, not as reward, but as reflection of a soul rightly aligned.

Lewis’s words also carry a warning for our age, which exalts material success above spiritual wisdom. We live in a time when men aim at earth, seeking fulfillment in wealth, ambition, or power, only to find emptiness. Nations rise and fall in pursuit of gain, yet peace remains elusive. The man who strives only for pleasure discovers boredom; the one who grasps at control discovers loneliness. Without a higher aim, the world itself turns hollow. For all things of earth are fleeting—beauty fades, gold tarnishes, empires crumble—but the soul that seeks heaven gains a joy that neither time nor decay can touch.

To aim at heaven does not mean to abandon the world; it means to see the world through sacred eyes. It is to work, to love, to create, but with the awareness that all good things come from above and return to it. The artist who paints for truth, the leader who governs with humility, the mother who nurtures with grace—all aim at heaven, and through their lives, the earth is made better. Heaven is not distant—it begins wherever love and goodness dwell. When the heart is aligned with the divine, the world itself becomes a reflection of paradise.

So, my listener, take this teaching deep within your heart: set your aim high, not upon comfort or approval, but upon truth, virtue, and eternity. Let your actions be guided by love rather than ambition, and you will find that the blessings of this world will come unbidden. Seek the eternal, and you will gain the temporal as well; seek the temporal, and you will lose both. For as Lewis teaches, the soul is too great for small aims. It was made for heaven—and when it reaches upward, heaven bends downward to meet it.

And thus, the lesson endures: the world belongs to those who aim beyond it. The one who lives for heaven transforms the earth with every step; the one who lives only for earth leaves nothing that lasts. Therefore, let your gaze be lifted, your purpose noble, your faith steadfast. Aim at heaven, child of eternity—and the earth, in its beauty and fullness, will be added unto you.