Very often [the only way to get a quality in reality] is to start behaving as if you had it already.
That is why children’s games are so important.
They are always pretending to be grown-ups—playing soldiers, playing shop.
But all the time, they are hardening their muscles and sharpening their wits
/so that [the pretence of being grown-up] helps them to grow up in earnest.
Now, the moment () you realise ‘Here I am, dressing up as Christ,'
it is extremely likely that you will see at once [some way //in which at that very moment the pretence could be made less
of a pretence and more of a reality.
You will find several things /going on in your mind //which would not be going on there /if you were really a son of God.
Well, stop them.
Or you may realise that, instead of saying your prayers, you ought to be downstairs writing a letter,
or helping your wife to wash- up.
Well, go and do it.
From Mere Christianity
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis