I would like to believe that others could have second chances in the afterlife, and that Hell isn't quite the fiery furnace we imagine and fear it to be. The Bible, however, doesn't seem to show much evidence of Hell being anything else but flames and suffering. Still, I think Lewis is on to something when he contains suffering within the minds of his ghosts, who are obviously unhappy for eternity - not unlike how they were on earth. I can understand that being sufficient torture to be a Hell...living in this type of life for eternity. I already cannot imagine or bear the thought of living to 80 in these circumstances; who can stand living in it forever? Not the prettiest thought.
What strikes me most, though, is not the picture of Heaven and Hell, but the conversations the character overhears between ghosts and spirits. The ghosts are, more often than not, unrelenting in acknowledging their wrongs, and therefore cannot be joyful or willing to meet God in the mountains. Lewis, I believe, means to show the way that humans are so unwilling to surrender a core part of themselves to God - that part that makes them feel important, wanted, needed. The thought is disappointing, to be fair to them. Other human faults lie in the inability to forgive their trespassers. As hard as it is for me to forgive and forget in my own life, I suppose I have to recognize that I have done wrong to my loved ones and acquaintances, which leaves me no better or with any more right to demand justice in my favor.
My heart breaks for the woman who lost her son - whose wouldn't? That has to be the greatest sadness, and it's unfortunate to know that she let her grief consume her. That's the power of human emotion - the ability to blind and devour you until you lose your grip on life while living it. I wonder how I would react in her position. Would I eventually let it go, cease to think that I did not deserve to have such a precious life taken away from me? Or would I clasp onto memories and "what if?"s for the rest of my life? What you think you would feel as you observe from the outside is very different from as you experience it, raw and painful and too real.
You see, whatever Heaven or Hell is I choose not to dwell upon; it is out of my control and understanding. I know only that I want to be with my Lord and that I must surrender my life to Him for that. What Lewis challenges here in this journey is the paradigms of our minds that we don't think are so bad - that we're owed certain things in life to remain happy. I want to believe that I can relinquish my vanities to God, but I have to admit the difficulty of doing that so far, even now while I have loads of time on my hands.
All this said, I still believe that I'll always have a hard time with theology books. Want to know the way to my heart? Fiction, baby. Gotta love the fiction.
