Thoughts are but Coins

The Apologist's Evening Prayer
C.S. Lewis

From all my lame defeats and oh! much more
From all the victories that I seemed to score;
From cleverness shot forth on Thy behalf
At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh;
From all my proofs of Thy divinity,
Thou, who wouldst give no sign, deliver me.

Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, instead
Of Thee, their thin-worn image of Thy head.
From all my thoughts, even from my thoughts of Thee,
O thou fair Silence, fall, and set me free.
Lord of the narrow gate and the needle's eye,
Take from me all my trumpery lest I die.

This poem is an adequate summation of how we all have been at some point and still are in danger of falling into. From all our lame defeats we know we have encountered, whether by chance or choice. We have suffered through many in our lives. And then we seem to win big in some victories that we become engrossed in so much that we think ourselves so clever and become haughty and self-centered. We do things to please the world, with no thought about the angels watching us, weeping over our lack of wisdom.

The line "Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, instead of Thee, their thin-worn image of Thy head" really sums up nicely the image of the thin promises and surface-level guarantees we depend upon in our lives. Those earthly promises are as thin as coins; things we should never trust in over God's promises. This image will stick with me.  Our thoughts are thin, shift with each breeze. Even when our thoughts are dwelling on the goodness of God, we still have trumpery, or falseness, in our thoughts. God, grant us all clear minds that are able to focus on You without the clutter of our false thoughts.