Reading: George MacDonald in C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce (chapter 9)
“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.’ All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.” Reflection: If you’ve never read C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, you should bump it to the top of your reading list. It sits near the top of my list of all-time favorite books. It’s a fantasy about a man who dies and goes to hell. While in hell, a lovely-looking public bus shows up and offers to give people a free ride up to heaven. Anyone who wants to can leave hell right then and there and head up to heaven. All they must do is get on. To the surprise of the main character, the line for the bus is quite short. But he gets on anyway and is whisked off to heaven. All of that takes place in chapter one. The main character is filled with questions, one of which is: why don’t more people choose heaven? Rather quickly he meets a mentor (the father of modern fairy tales, George MacDonald) who helps him better understand the situation. The reason why some people prefer hell is that it can be quite appealing. In the hell of Lewis’ imagination, people are allowed whatever they desire. God hands everyone over to the thing they want most; whatever you seek, you find. The Great Divorce is filled with story after story of various people trying to figure out if they desire God (joy, love, peace) over the things they clung to in life (greed, anger, pride, lust, gossip, violence). Some characters are afraid to give up what they know, even if it is killing them. They would rather suffer a painful life that is familiar than risk a better life that is unknown. Some take the plunge, leaving behind their pride or gossip or anger and choosing peace instead. Others don’t quite get it, failing to realize that any life apart from God, even if it is filled with the luxury of wealth or the satisfaction of vengeance, ultimately ends in misery. I love this story because I think it gets right to the heart of discipleship. Christians are caught in a constant struggle between desiring God and desiring everything but God. We seek our fulfillment in so many things: money, power, fame, success, work, play, marriage, parenthood, education. We exhaust ourselves in these things, hoping they will fill our lives with meaning and purpose. But really only God can do that. So often we talk like following Jesus is hard (and it is, don’t get me wrong). But it’s also very simple. To follow Jesus is to put away our desires for everything else and instead desire God’s peace and rest and goodness. To follow Jesus is to realize that the work is done. There is nothing more for you to worry about. God has taken care of you. Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The Christian life is the daily struggle to lay down all our heavy, complicated, and burdensome worldly desires and instead rest with Jesus. That’s it. So may we rest deeply in God’s grace. May we feel the arms of Jesus hoist that heavy burden off our backs. May we rest contentedly in God, with nothing but “Thy will be done” upon our lips. --Jim Vitale Prayer Dear God, we cling to the things of this life hoping they will fulfill us; but fulfillment is in you alone. By your immeasurable grace, make yourself the desire of our hearts. Release us from the burdensome desires that push us away from you and draw us into your rest, that we might live eternally in you. Amen.
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