Summer Reading: The Great Divorce, by C.S.Lewis

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The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis. Harper One, 2000. 146 pages. (Originally published in 1946.)


From the preface: "Evil can be undone, but it cannot "develop" into good. Time does not heal it. The spell must be unwound, bit by bit, 'with backward mutters of disserving power'--or else not. If we insist on keeping Hell, (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven; if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell."

This book is not about the legal process of ending a marriage contract, Nor is it theology. Instead, Lewis' fable is about an imaginary trip from between Hell and Heaven. The book features imaginary characters who engage in a pursuit and a discussion of the deepest, most important realities: how do my choices bring me close to God, or away from God? What is the nature of Heaven? What is the nature of Hell? Lewis, an Episcopalian, draws a deeper meaning of these places than will be found in popular fiction or media. 

Hell is a place marked by unlimited suffering, incredible selfishness, and a lack of escape. It is a place filled with failure of every type. Heaven, in contrast, is a unified community of God empowered beings who live joyfully without limitation or distraction. These souls live exclusively to express God's love, holiness, and perfection.

The core of the story, presented in first person by an unnamed narrator, revolves around who may find a permanent and eternal in the hellish or heavenly spaces, and why. One's final destiny is a personal choice, based on the large and small decisions about who and what matter most. 

If read with an open mind, this small book (less than 200 pages in short chapters) will challenge your insight and understanding of what it means to love God, to follow God, and to accept and celebrate God's judgments and priorities. Note Jesus' teaching on accepting God's priorities when he says, in Matthew 10:37- 40, "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Simple words. Deep thoughts. Ideas and perspectives you will want to explore. The Great Divorce is a good and necessary read at any time of the year, including this summer.

From chapter 11: "There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him. And the higher and mightier it is in the natural order, the more demoniac it will be if it rebels. It's not out of bad mice or bed fleas you make demons, but out of bad archangels."



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