The conversation with the painter in The Great Divorce about distinction intrigued me:
The Spirit explains to the painter, “‘But they 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.’”
“‘Do you mean there are no famous men?’”
“‘They are all famous. They are all known, remembered, recognised by the only Mind that can give a perfect judgement.’”
What confuses me about this explanation is a later encounter with the Lady who is followed by a procession. The Teacher explains, “‘She is one of the great ones. Ye have heard that fame in this country and fame on Earth are two quite different things.’”
The two messages seem to be in conflict with one another. If everyone is famous, how can the Lady be recognized by others as being ‘one of the great ones’? It is not that everything that we accomplish in our earthly lives will fall away as if it never existed or occurred, but that only God shall remember. Heaven is not another Earth in the understanding that we live the same way. Rather, to become solid the Ghosts must move beyond their initial desires and wants in order to realize that it is only through God’s Love that joy comes. Love for God must come before all other things—even just a seed to begin the process. Fame should not matter. But then what does Lewis mean by distinguishing the Lady as one of the great ones?
I can only guess that because we are reading from the view of a Ghost who is not dead—only dreaming—that the lens we read through is earthly. Distinctions are noticed and pointed out because of the narrator’s own viewpoint. Lewis chose such a narrator in order to illustrate his purpose clearer. After all, if we read the novel from a Spirit’s view, the novel would be drastically different. I do not think these two are necessarily in complete conflict, but only seem to be so; however, I cannot explain any further.
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1 comment:
I really enjoyed your blog! Here's what I think:
I read these as showing that what we on Earth would consider to be distinguished is not what will be considered distinguished in heaven. The example with the painter shows that even though men can make a notable reputation for themselves on Earth doesn't mean that they will enjoy the same reputation in heaven. Everyone has the same amount of distinguishment, as judged by God.
The example of the Lady, to me, showed that divine judgment. On Earth, she wasn't anyone special. She was simply "Sarah Smith from Golders Green." But because of the life she lived, she has become more distinguished in heaven than she ever was on Earth.
This doesn't entirely explain the contradiction that you point out; it is just how I understood these passages when I read them.
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