From the Grey Town below of eternal self-vision,
A despairing, hollow place,
To the Bright Lands above of expedition,
At a slow, infernal pace.
Every step taken leads further up, in
Where something real prods
At the soul and sole of waning apparitions
To answers far beyond
The grasp of the dead and self-seeking men
Who come from below.
And there a lonely man traverses and eaves
On other lonely Shades
Who meet with Bright People of former days,
Often with dismay.
Excuses and memories, exchanged in words
Turning Shades away.
Broken hearts, broken lives, broken minds prefer
To keep plucking hands at bay.
Every hair, every feather, their soul will hold firm;
They will to be the Shade.
Enters the teacher, with thick Scottish brogue,
A certain, heavenly guide,
Who with wise words of admonition
Dares to provide
New, honest eyes to see the connection
Shades want to hide.
Deep in their hearts and in shallow pockets,
Hell’s flame resides.
They do not seek Heaven for its blessed profit—
They seek to be justified.
They seek selfish comfort, just as before?
— In earthly life.
The only reason they peer through Hell’s door?
— To nip at Bright minds.
There’s really no escape? Is that for sure?
— The door’s locked inside.
The Bright Ones can’t take the Shades by force?
— It’s their chosen strife.
Then why let them crack Hell’s damned door?
— To settle temporal minds.
To Assure The Twain Acquire Divorce.
“No, there is no escape. There is no heaven with a little of hell in it — no plan to retain this or that of the devil in our hearts or our pockets. Out Satan must go, every hair and feather.”[1]
Donald W. Catchings, Jr. is co-founder of publishing company, Inkwell and Pen, LLC. Also, Donald holds a Master of Arts in Apologetics from Houston Baptist University. Donald regularly contributes to An Unexpected Journal and has numerous published works, including Joy Through a Wardrobe — a poetic companion to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Subscribe
This work is part of George MacDonald (Advent 2020). The issue is available in both print and digital format (Kindle, Nook, and epub.)
You can purchase your own copy of this edition at your favorite online retailer, or subscribe to An Unexpected Journal and save.
Click to Subscribe
Citation Information
Donald W. Catchings, Jr., “A Heavenly Guide: Lewis’s ‘Teacher’ in The Great Divorce,” An Unexpected Journal: George MacDonald 3, no. 4. (Advent 2020), 143-146.
Direct Link: https://anunexpectedjournal.com/a-heavenly-guide-lewiss-teacher-in-the-great-divorce/
Endnotes
[1] George MacDonald, “The Last Farthing” in Unspoken Sermons Series Two, accessed September 13, 2020, https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/9057/pg9057.html.
