C S Lewis would have to be the most quoted Christian author I have ever encountered, and it always seems advantageous to mention his name to strengthen one’s point. The man was incredibly insightful, honest, and articulate. His book The Four Loves contains a strange but perceptive tip when it comes to looking for a location to have one’s daily quiet-time – the popular phrase that Christians give to their regular time of Bible reading and prayer. Stay away from pretty gardens.

“Nature cannot satisfy the desires she arouses nor answer theological questions nor sanctify us. Our real journey to God involves constantly turning our backs on her…. Say your prayers in a garden early, ignoring steadfastly the dew, the birds and the flowers, and you will come away overwhelmed by its freshness and joy; go there in order to be overwhelmed and, after a certain age, nine times out of ten nothing will happen to you.”

The point seems counter-intuitive, for surely the scent of the pine forest, or the rhythm and rhyme of the rolling waves, or the sight of snowy mountain peaks, would improve the whole experience of meeting with God. But I have not found it to be so in my experience. A simple desk in a poky room on an ordinary day with an open Bible will do. It helps to keep the meeting simple, focused, and undistracted. And I have found that looking at God is always the best way to see him.