Divorce is Forever!

Okay, why another blog? Why me? I believe I have something to say and, at this point, no one who will listen. Now, that's divine inspiration! Because whom else do I need to satisfy? And so we begin with the The Great Divorce. Being someone who reads lots of spiritual material, surprisingly I have been late to the CS Lewis party. But now I get it. He was a brilliant writer, who could bring in intellectuals who would otherwise get the Jesus-willies from bible thumpers. I get that too. We all have our own doors to God, and sometimes the preacher man just won't do. But what does it for me is a brilliant, exalted mind whose intellect is in service to something higher. So he's a smart dude, but isn't all pedantic about it... like some of those Harvard students I hear on the T sometimes. This book is a modern version of Dante's Inferno. But there is no Virgil and Beatrice. Just ghosts and spirits, lost souls and saved souls, seen on a bus ride through the heavenly and hellish realms.

Along the tour, we encounter many stories with a deeper message. For me, the most moving was we encounter a Spirit named Sarah Smith, who evidently saved many souls while she was on Earth. Eventually she comes across a Ghost who used to be her husband. This Ghost leads around a ventriloquist-like puppet, which Lewis names the Tragedian, that speaks for him. The Tragedian claims to have been worried about the Lady, distressed that she was there without him, believing she must have missed him terribly. But she denies this, explaining that “There are no miseries here” and that she has been perfectly happy without him. The Tragedian is shaken by this, and as the conversation ensues the Lady acknowledges her love on Earth was based on need. The Tragedian grows increasingly angry as he realized she does not need him, and does not take pity on him. She tells him, “I am in Love, and out of it I will not go.” The Tragedian has chosen his fate, and she will not coddle him anymore. Lewis makes it clear that hell exists only because souls refuse to see heaven.

Louie CK has a funny bit where he mentions "divorce is forever." This is mostly true in the horizontal sense, but it is definitive in the vertical expanse. Of course, the Divorce Lewis alludes to is the demarcation between heaven and hell. While many postmodern relativists take issue with these distinctions, they can't deny it if they take an honest look at themselves and how they live their lives. There is a conscious part of ourselves that knows the difference between living rightly and wrongly. Sure there are grey areas to life, but when it comes to intentions, means, and ends we can do our best to make contact with reality, and then choose accordingly.