Christianity: Restriction or Celebration?

The following is an excerpt from a book I'm reading called The Liturgical Year by a Benedictine nun named Sister Joan Chittister. I will be doing an overall review on the book soon, but I wanted to share with you a couple of paragraphs that I found particularly inspiring.

Note: I am generally opposed to the usage of the term "religion" in a positive sense as I view "religion" as a set of man-made rules and obligations meant to keep people in line. I view my faith in Jesus as something much deeper, much more relational, much more sacrificial than just "religion." The author of the following paragraphs, however, is using the term "religion" in a broader sense, meaning more along the lines of "a system of faith." I do not begrudge her this usage of "religion," I just thought a little clarification might help.

One of the interesting things about religion, about Christianity, is that in a society full to the brim with excess - a glorifier of excess, in fact - religions has come to be seen as one of life's great restrictive factors. Religion, this society assumes, exists to say no to the good things of life. It damps the human need for pleasure and destroys joy.

But nothing could be farther from the truth. Religion is life to the excess.

Religion celebrates what the rest of the world forgets - the inherent goodness of life itself. Religion knows that life unadorned and raw is the ultimate high. Everything else is a pale shadow of the real thing. All the excesses in the world - sex, alcohol, drugs, gambling, greed - are simply substitutes for the real thing. They are made for people who have yet to discover the joy of being human, the glory of God among us.

As I read these words this morning, I was reminded of another quote from C.S. Lewis:
Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

I am challenged today to continually wage ware against the cultural lie that Jesus came to give us a bunch of rules and restrictions against all fun, pleasure and enjoyment. I am challenged to remember that Christ came to give us abundant life, peace beyond our understanding, joy unspeakable, and love of the purest kind. When I forsake worldly pleasures, I do not do so out of a sense of obligation, trying to somehow earn God's favor, but rather out of a sense of joy, knowing that I am trading my mud pie for the riches of God's kingdom.