The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, [a very curious fact /about the world () we live /in].
[The settled happiness and security //which we all desire],
God withholds /from us /by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment,
* God withholds [The settled happiness and security //which we all desire] /from us ~.
He has scattered broadcast.
We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy.
It is not hard to see why.
[The security () we crave] would teach [us] [to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle /to our return to God]:
[a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe or a football match],
have no such tendency.
Our Father refreshes us /on the journey /with some pleasant inns,
but will not encourage [us] [to mistake them /for home].
From The Problem of Pain
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis