The Great Divorce

This past holiday weekend, in the midst of ministry and school work, I was able to find a few moments to sit down and read C.S. Lewis' book, "The Great Divorce". This was a very enjoyable, inspiring, yet quick read. The book is only 146 pages, but is pack to the brim with solid biblical truth. It is in line with Lewis' other book, "The Screwtape Letters". Both books are allegorical fables. They tell a story, a fictional story, but are designed to teach and get the reader thinking about biblical truth. "The Great Divorce" is a allegorical fable about a man who rides a bus from Hell to Heaven and then spends time walking around Heaven listening to and watching conversations between those on the bus with him, and those residence of Heaven. The book title points to the fact that there is a very clear separation between Heaven and Hell, light and dark, God and earth, sin and sainthood, living for God and living for oneself. So as I was reading the fictional story, I was reminded of the fact that I am now in the kingdom of God, in the life of light, and have been totally divorced from the flesh, sin, selfishness, and personal pleasure. At the end of the story one will realize, as I did, that to be a lover of God, it must come with the divorce from everything that is not God or God delighting.

One of the interesting things I found from the story, is that all of those outside of heaven are pictured as dark vapor like ghost. All of those who reside in Heaven, are bright colorful beings of light. The sheer contrast between the two, brings the reader to realize the kingdom of God is a kingdom and realm of light. Where as the kingdom of self, is a dark gloomy almost smoke-like, existence. When a person truly surrenders to God and is saved by Him, they enter a life of light and bright beauty. When a person remains self-absorbed and in bondage to themselves, their existence, as nice as it may seem, is truly almost non-existent and very dark. This was a great picture illustrated in the story by Lewis.

As the narrator in the story walks around Heaven, after he gets off the bus, there are so many conversation that he overhears and observes, that Lewis does an excellent job illustrating all of the reasons that we will never choose God, and remain in our selfish dark existence. Here are some of the lines that struck me from these conversations.

-"I do not look at myself. I have given up myself. That was what it did for me. And that was how everything began". (This was a being of light talking to a ghost). 

-"I do not want help. I want to be left alone and do this on my own". (This was a ghost responding to a being of light who was trying to lead them to a life eternal in God). 

-"I forgive him as a Christian, but there are some things one can never forget". (This was a ghost responding to the plea of a being of light trying to get them to place their baggage down and come into the light). 

-"You are treating God only as a means to Michael. But the whole thickening treatment consists in learning to want God for His own sake". (This was a being of light responding to a ghost who would not come into heaven unless their child came to them first from heaven). 

And not only were many of the conversations the narrator overheard critical in the point of the fable and allegory, but also a few lines the narrator himself wrote down. Here are my 2 favorite lines from the entire book.

-You cannot fully understand the relations of choice ad time until you are beyond both.

-"But they (beings of light) aren't distinguished-no more than anyone else. Don't you understand? The Glory flows into everyone and back from everyone; like light and mirrors. But the light's the thing.

The Great Divorce is a book I would recommend for anyone to read. If one is not a lover of God, they can find truth in this book without it smacking them in the face. Lewis does an excellent job weaving the truth of God and salvation into a story that makes it clear, yet not so clear that it is like reading a Bible. This book, for a Christian, is an excellent read becasue it takes the imagination of the person and draws them into the heart and mind of God through this instrument. I would highly recommend this book for everyone.