The following is the tenth in a series of reflections on The Great Divorce.
For more reflections on this work, check out the hub page for the series.
For more reflections on this work, check out the hub page for the series.
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Trial by Fire
A reflection on chapter 9 of C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce
Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell - and great was its fall!
Matthew 7:24-27 (NRSV)
Matthew 7:24-27 (NRSV)
Ruin my life - the plans I have made
Ruin desires for my own selfish gain
Destroy the idols that have taken Your place
'Till its You alone I live for
You alone I live for
From "Ruin Me" by Jeff Johnson
A Cherokee grandfather once told his grandson that, within each and every person, two wolves are fighting to the death. One wolf represents all kinds of evil - "anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." The other wolf represents all goodness - "joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith." The grandson asked his grandfather which one will win, and the grandfather answered, "The one you feed."1
I would say that this story is basically The Great Divorce in a nutshell.
The protagonist has watched several conversations between the ghosts from Hell and the spirits who came to meet them in Heaven. Finally, he encounters the spirit who came to meet him personally, the 19th-century Scottish writer and theologian, George MacDonald. The writings of this great thinker had a profound influence on the protagonist in his earthly existence, so he is inclined to trust him.
The protagonist, still filled with anxiety because of his conversation with hard-bitten ghost, asks his teacher whether or not he and the other ghosts are allowed to stay in Heaven. The teacher assures him that anyone who truly wants to stay is welcome to do so, but their staying hinges on a choice.
In most Christian traditions, the states of postmortem existence that get the most attention are Heaven and Hell. Some Christian traditions, particularly those of a Roman Catholic or Orthodox variety, espouse the concept of Purgatory, a third kind of existence that is neither everlasting joy (Heaven) nor everlasting despair (Hell). In fact, Purgatory is not everlasting at all.
In The Great Divorce, Hell and Purgatory are essentially the same place - the dank, dingy, drizzly "grey town" depicted at the beginning of the story. The protagonist learns from his teacher that, for the souls who choose to stay, the town is Hell - as is everything in their lives that preceded their entry into it. On the other hand, for the souls who choose to leave and never return, the town is Purgatory, just another stop on a homeward journey. Basically, the "grey town" is either a soul's final destination or the place a soul finds its way to Heaven.
Though many people think of Purgatory as a mere "waiting room" for people who weren't quite good enough to get into Heaven, Purgatory is, by definition, a state of temporary punishment meant to prepare a soul for Heaven. The name Purgatory is derived from the Latin word purgātōrium which literally means "cleansing." It is also related to the English word purge.2 Purgatory, in some Christians' cosmology, is a place where a soul is purged of evil.
The protagonist and his teacher overhear a ghost venting to a spirit about her many grievances. She talks about the friend who stood her up on the way to the bus, the roommate who mistreated her in the town, the surgeon who didn't know what he was doing, and the inept workers at the nursing home. The spirit to whom she is talking cannot get a word in edgewise. The protagonist doesn't think that the ghost is deserving of Hell: far from being evil, she just has a bad habit of complaining. His teacher raises the question whether the ghost is "a grumbler" or "only a grumble." If she is a grumbler, then she could be healed of her grumbling; but there is a possibility that she has been grumbling so long that she is incapable of doing anything else. She might have become like the hard-bitten ghost, incapable of seeing the good in anything.
As the grandfather hinted in his parable, the impulses within us that we "feed" will become stronger and stronger, while the impulses within us that we "starve" will become weaker and weaker.
Perhaps we will all pass through fire at some point. Maybe the question is whether or not there will be anything left of us on the other side. The fire could either purify us or destroy us: it all depends on the stuff that makes us up. The teacher says, "If there's one wee spark under all those ashes, we'll blow it till the whole pile is red and clear. But if there's nothing but ashes we'll not go on blowing them in our own eyes forever. They must be swept up." In other words, anyone that can be saved will be saved.
According to the teacher, "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'" The ghosts who really want to stay in Heaven will surrender whatever it is that would keep them in their own personal Hells. For each ghost who chooses to get back on the bus, there is something he will make himself miserable to keep.
The big ghost returned to the bus because he would not give up the idea that he was better than a forgiven murderer. The bishop returned to the bus because he would not give up his endless debating and questioning and accept the Truth he was offered. The hard-bitten ghost returned to the bus because he would not give up the notion that he's outsmarted a universe that was out to get him. If Ikey wants to stay in Heaven, he will have to give up his shortsighted ambitions. If the shame-filled ghost wants to stay in Heaven, she will have to give up her pretensions and step into a place of vulnerability. A wise friend of mine suggested that maybe the one thing each ghost who returns to the bus refuses to give up is somehow connected to pride.
According to the teacher, the cries of the damned sound like this:
"I always served my country, right or wrong."
"I sacrificed everything for my art."
"They never got the better of me."
"I always looked out for number one."
"At least I was true to myself."
Though Lewis writes about Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, he really only describes two outcomes. What distinguishes the two is not location but rather the state of a person's heart. Hell is just a state of mind, but Heaven is reality itself. The damned, who would rather "reign in Hell" than "serve in Heaven," spend eternity in their own delusions, while the saved see the errors of their former ways and embrace Truth. That said, maybe the question we should be asking ourselves is not, "Will God let me into Heaven?" but rather, "Do I even want to go to Heaven?" In the words of Dallas Willard, "I'm quite sure God will let everybody into Heaven that can possibly stand it," but "Hell is just the best God can do for some people."3
So is Lewis correct in his portrayal of the afterlife in The Great Divorce? To be honest, I have no earthly idea, but what he says makes the most sense to me, even if it is only an opinion. None of us really know what lies beyond this life. A few people have claimed to have returned from Heaven or Hell - and have made a lot of money from it - but I am highly suspicious of their claims. As I hinted in an earlier post, this story is really less about the "hereafter" and more about the "here-and-now." Maybe this earthly existence is, in itself, a trial by fire.
As the Cherokee grandfather taught his grandson, good and evil are battling within each of us. Christianity teaches us that good will ultimately win the final victory against evil, so, if evil wins the battle within us, then we lose. Some things will persist into eternity, while other things will be swept away like a sandcastle at high tide. We must learn to nurture whatever is good and eternal within us, to let go of all that is evil, and to hold loosely all that is temporal. Lewis suggests, "No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it," so maybe one of the things we should all "feed" within ourselves is the desire for the love, peace, and joy that God desires for all of us.
Notes:
- http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TwoWolves-Cherokee.html
- Wiktionary: Purgatory
- Quoted by John Ortberg in Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You. 2014, Zondervan. p. 22
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