Lewis grieving the death of his wife, Joy in July 1960
A Grief Observed – C. S. Lewis (1961)
It always puzzles me that when things are going well, whatever deity is followed is not automatically thanked but, there is a common trait with people that, regardless of then being religious or not, they turn to faith in their hour of need … ‘God help us’ or ‘Heaven preserve us’ etc. or the offering up of prayers in the vain hope that there is someone there that will do something to help whatever dire situation is occurring.
However, if the miracle is not forthcoming, or they are not granted what it is they want they will then justify it by denouncing the existence of any divine faith. Yet, even if they are granted what they want although they may praise the Lord or however, that is as far as it goes. For most it doesn’t change their everyday life, they do not suddenly become fanatics, or any such thing and quite often do not even give religion another thought until they need another favour.