In Star Trek: Insurrection Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are working to save the lives of the Ba’ku, a peaceful people who live simple, quiet lives free from technology. In one scene, Captain Picard is speaking to one of the Ba’ku, Anij, when she asks him if he’s ever experienced a “perfect moment in time”, where time seemed to slow down around a significant event. Later on, Picard experiences one such moment with Anij beside a small waterfall with a gently running stream.1
The scene is somewhat reminiscent of an experience C.S. Lewis writes about in his Letters to Malcolm. Lewis expounds upon a time when he was walking with his friend Malcolm through the Forest of Dean when he encounters God’s presence beside a babbling stream on a hot day and the experience of cool water as he splashes it on his face.2
I’ve recently been reading a book called Awaken Delight: Satisfying Your Soul’s Longing for God. It encourages the reader to memorize Psalm 37:4 which reads, “Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart”. I’ve practiced lectio divina, a meditative and contemplative approach to Scripture, multiple times with Psalm 37, particularly verses 1-9 and have wondered what it might mean to delight in God.
Part of Psalm 37 talks about dwelling in the land enjoying safe pasture, not unlike the Ba’ku people from Star Trek. We are told not to be “envious of those who do wrong”, who frequently seem to get away with living immoral lifestyles and seem to have more fun in the process. But I believe when we live simple lives devoted to God we will know what it means to delight in the Lord. C.S. Lewis understood that enjoyment of earthly pleasures could be gateways to delighting in God and His presence.
In The Everyday Mysticism of C.S. Lewis, author Gary Selby explains how, for Lewis, experiences of “mundane pleasures” can be little theophanies, or experiences of God’s direct presence on earth. As Selby writes, “for Lewis on that walk in the Forest of Dean, these simple, mundane pleasures became a theophany, an appearance of God. Why? Because, under Malcolm’s guidance, he paid carefuly, theologically formed attention to them. He received them and savored them as tastes of God’s glory.”3
One might consider these theophanies perfect moments, but unlike the Ba’ku the moment or mundane pleasure is not the telos, but rather the enjoyment or delight in God, the source of them, is the end goal. Just as holding a warm cup of coffee or tea can be a reminder of the warmth of God’s love, or just as the steady glow of a lit candle can be a reminder of God’s steady presence in our lives, so our enjoyment of earthly pleasures ought to give way to our enjoyment of the Creator of all the desires of our hearts.
In conclusion, you may want to apply these insights by spending some time in Centering Prayer. Centering Prayer is a way of praying where one’s focus is directly on God and His presence. Usually a word or phrase is used to help remind one of God’s presence. Samples of words can be “Shepherd”, “Holy Spirit”, “Abba”, “El Roi” meaning “The One who Sees”. As one’s mind starts to drift and focus on other things, one gently uses the word or phrase to ground one’s attention back to God’s presence. In this case, consider using the phrase, “I delight in you, O Lord”. If you are unaccustomed to Centering Prayer, spending even 5-10 minutes to begin with is enough.
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1 Star Trek: Insurrection, directed by Jonathan Frakes (1998; Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 1999), DVD.
2 See Gary Selby, The Everyday Mysticism of C.S. Lewis: Spirituality for Daily Life (IVP Academic, 2026), 15-17.
3 Selby, Everyday Mysticism, 20.
