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SUMMARY
THEMES IN CHAPTER 12, PART 2, AND CHAPTER 13, PART 1
The Danger of a Divided Identity
While we spoke the Lady was steadily advancing towards us, but it was not at us she looked. Following the direction of her eyes, I turned and saw an oddly-shaped phantom approaching. Or rather two phantoms: a great tall Ghost, horribly thin and shaky, who seemed to be leading on a chain another Ghost no bigger than an organ-grinder’s monkey. The taller Ghost wore a soft black hat, and he reminded me of something that my memory could not quite recover. Then, when he had come within a few feet of the Lady he spread out his lean, shaky hand flat on his chest with the fingers wide apart, and exclaimed in a hollow voice, “At last!” All at once I realised what it was that he had put me in mind of. He was like a seedy actor of the old school. “Darling! At last!” said the Lady. “Good Heavens!” thought I. “Surely she can’t-,” and then I noticed two things. In the first place, I noticed that the little Ghost was not being led by the big one. It was the dwarfish figure that held the chain in its hand and the theatrical figure that wore the collar round its neck. In the second place, I noticed that the Lady was looking solely at the dwarf Ghost. She seemed to think it was the Dwarf who had addressed her, or else she was deliberately ignoring the other. On the poor dwarf she turned her eyes.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5-8) No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Lk. 16:13)
Priority of Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness
On the poor dwarf she turned her eyes. Love shone not from her face only, but from all her limbs, as if it were some liquid in which she had just been bathing. Then, to my dismay she came nearer. She stooped down and kissed the Dwarf. It made one shudder to see her in such close contact with that cold, damp, shrunken thing. But she did not shudder. “Frank,” she said, “before anything else, forgive me. For all I ever did wrong and for all I did not do right since the first day we met, I ask your pardon.”
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Mt. 5:23-24) From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”(Mt. 4:17) As I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:9–10)
The Tyranny of Selfish Desire
Then he gave a jerk to the chain: and it was the Tragedian, not he, who answered the Lady. “There, there,” said the Tragedian. “We’ll say no more about it. We all make mistakes. It’s not myself I’m thinking about. It is you. That is what has been continually on my mind-all these vears. The thought of you-you here alone, breaking your heart about me.” “But now,” said the Lady to the Dwarf, “you can set all that aside. Never think like that again. It is all over.” Her beauty brightened so that I could hardly see anything else, and under that sweet compulsion the Dwarf really looked at her for the first time. For a second I thought he was growing more like a man. He opened his mouth. He himself was going to speak this time. But oh, the disappointment when the words came! “You missed me?” he croaked in a small, bleating voice… Still the love and courtesy flowed from her…What happened next gave me a shock. The Dwarf and the Tragedian spoke in unison, not to her but to one another. “You’ll notice,” they warned one another, “she hasn’t answered our question.” I realised then that they were one person, or rather that both were the remains of what had once been a person. The Dwarf again rattled the chain. “You missed me?” said the Tragedian to the Lady, throwing a dreadful theatrical tremor into his voice. “Dear friend,” said the Lady, still attending exclusively to the Dwarf, “you may be happy about that…Forget all about it for ever.” I thought the Dwarf was going to obey: partly because the outlines of his face became a little clearer, and partly because the invitation to all joy, singing out of her whole being like a bird’s song on an April evening, seemed to me such that no creature could resist it. Then he hesitated. And then-once more he and his accomplice spoke in unison. After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (James 1:15) Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.(Romans 6:12)
Craving Love v. Selfless Love
“I could forgive them all they’ve done to me. But for your miseries-.” “Oh, don’t you understand?” said the Lady. “There are no miseries here.” “Do you mean to say,” answered the Dwarf, as if this new idea had made him quite forget the Tragedian for a moment, “do you mean to say you’ve been happy?” “Didn’t you want me to be? But no matter. Want it now. Or don’t think about it at all.” The Dwarf blinked at her. One could see an unheard-of idea trying to enter his little mind: one could see even that there was for him some sweetness in it. For a second he had almost let the chain go: then, as if it were his life-line, he clutched it once more. “Look here,” said the Tragedian. “We’ve got to face this.” He was using his “manly” bullying tone this time: the one for bringing women to their senses. “Darling,” said the Lady to the Dwarf, “there’s nothing to face. You don’t want me to have been miserable for misery’s sake. You only think I must have been if I loved you. But if you’ll only wait you’ll see that isn’t so.”…”Love! Do you know the meaning of the word?” “How should I not?” said the Lady. “I am in love. In love, do you understand? Yes, now I love truly.” “You mean,” said the Tragedian, “you mean -you did not love me truly in the old days?” “Only in a poor sort of way,” she answered. “I have asked you to forgive me. There was a little real love in it. But what we called love down there was mostly the craving to be loved. In the main I loved you for my own sake: because I needed you.” “And now, now, you need me no more?” “But of course not!” said the Lady; and her smile made me wonder how both the phantoms could refrain from crying out with joy. “What needs could I have,” she said, “now that I have all? I am full now, not empty. I am in Love Himself, not lonely. Strong, not weak. You shall be the same. Come and see. We shall have no need for one another now: we can begin to love truly.”
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (Jn 15:13) We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (I Jn. 3:16)
The Power of Love and Joy
“I DO not know that I ever saw anything more terrible than the struggle of that Dwarf Ghost against Joy. For he had almost been overcome. Somewhere, incalculable ages ago, there must have been gleams of humour and reason in him. For one moment, while she looked at him in her love and mirth, he saw the absurdity of the Tragedian. For one moment he did not at all misunderstand her laughter: he too must once have known that no people find each other more absurd than lovers. But the light that reached him, reached him against his will. This was not the meeting he had pictured; he would not accept it. Once more he clutched at his death-line, and at once the Tragedian spoke. “You dare to laugh at it!” it stormed. “To my face? And this is my reward. Very well. It is fortunate that you give yourself no concern about my fate. Otherwise you might be sorry afterwards to think that you had driven me back to Hell. What? Do you think I’d stay now? Thank you. I believe I’m fairly quick at recognising where I’m not wanted. ‘Not needed’ was the exact expression, if I remember rightly.” From this time on the Dwarf never spoke again: but still the Lady addressed it. “Dear, no one sends you back. Here is all joy. Everything bids you stay.” But the Dwarf was growing smaller even while she spoke.”
You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16:11) [Let us look] to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:2) Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it.(Song of Songs 8:6-7)
The Danger of Standing on Your “Rights”
“Yes,” said the Tragedian. “On terms you might offer to a dog. I happen to have some self-respect left, and I see that my going will make no difference to you. It is nothing to you that I go back to the cold and the gloom, the lonely, lonely streets-.” “Don’t, don’t Frank,” said the Lady. “Don’t let it talk like that.” But the Dwarf was now so small that she had dropped on her knees to speak to it. The Tragedian caught her words greedily as a dog catches a bone. “Ah, you can’t bear to hear it!” he shouted with miserable triumph. “That was always the way. You must be sheltered. Grim realities must be kept out of your sight. You who can be happy without me, forgetting me! You don’t want even to hear of my sufferings. You say, don’t. Don’t tell you. Don’t make you unhappy. Don’t break in on your sheltered, self-centred little heaven. And this is the reward-.” She stooped still lower to speak to the Dwarf which was now a figure no bigger than a kitten, hanging on to the end of the chain with his feet off the ground. “That wasn’t why I said. Don’t,” she answered. “I meant, stop acting. It’s no good. He is killing you. Let go of that chain. Even now.”
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil (Proverbs 3:7) Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:21) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7)
Using Pity for Manipulation
“Acting,” screamed the Tragedian. “What do you mean?” The Dwarf was now so small that I could not distinguish him from the chain to which he was clinging. And now for the first time I could not be certain whether the Lady was addressing him or the Tragedian. “Quick,” she said. “There is still time. Stop it. Stop it at once.” “Stop what?” “Using pity, other people’s pity, in the wrong way. We have all done it a bit on earth, you know. Pity was meant to be a spur that drives joy to help misery. But it can be used the wrong way round. It can be used for a kind of blackmailing. Those who choose misery can hold joy up to ransom, by pity. You see, I know now. Even as a child you did it. Instead of saying you were sorry, you went and sulked in the attic . . . because vou knew that sooner or later one of your sisters would say, ‘I can’t bear to think of him sitting up there alone, crying.’ You used your pity to blackmail them, and they gave in in the end. And afterwards, when we were married . . . oh, it doesn’t matter, if only you will stop it.” “And that,” said the Tragedian, “that is all you have understood of me, after all these years.” I don’t know what had become of the Dwarf Ghost by now. Perhaps it was climbing up the chain like an insect: perhaps it was somehow absorbed into the chain. “No, Frank, not here,” said the Lady. “Listen to reason. Did you think joy was created to live always under that threat? Always defenceless against those who would rather be miserable than have their self-will crossed? For it was real misery. I know that now. You made yourself really wretched. That you can still do.”
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Prov. 17:22) Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.(James 1:2-3) Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.(Ps. 106:7)
Light and Joy and Love Must Triumph Over Darkness
“Everything [here] becomes more and more itself. Here is joy that cannot be shaken. Our light can swallow up your darkness: but your darkness cannot now infect our light. No, no, no. Come to us. We will not go to you. Can you really have thought that love and joy would always be at the mercy of frowns and sighs? Did you not know they were stronger than their opposites?” “Love? How dare you use that sacred word?” said the Tragedian. At the same moment he gathered up the chain which had now for some time been swinging uselessly at his side, and somehow disposed of it. I am not quite sure, but I think he swallowed it. Then for the first time it became clear that the Lady saw and addressed him only. “Where is Frank?” she said. “And who are you, Sir? I never knew you. Perhaps you had better leave me. Or stay, if you prefer. If it would help you and if it were possible I would go down with you into Hell: but you cannot bring Hell into me.” “You do not love me,” said the Tragedian in a thin bat-like voice: and he was now very difficult to see. “I cannot love a lie,” said the Lady. “I cannot love the thing which is not. I am in Love, and out of it I will not go.” There was no answer. The Tragedian had vanished. The Lady was alone in that woodland place, and a brown bird went hopping past her, bending with its light feet the grasses I could not bend.”
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (Jn. 1:4-5) Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (I Cor. 13:6-13)
The whole dance, or drama, or pattern of this three-Personal life is to be played out in each one of us: each one of us has got to enter that pattern, take his place in that dance.
There is no other way to the happiness for which we were made.
Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water.
If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prizes which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone.
They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very centre of reality.
If you are close to it, the spray will wet you: if you are not, you will remain dry.
Once a man is united to God, how could he not live forever?
Once a man is separated from God, what can he do but wither and die?
–C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Veni, Creator Spiritus
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
and lighten with celestial fire;
thou the anointing Spirit art,
who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart:
Thy blessèd unction from above
is comfort, life, and fire of love;
enable with perpetual light
the dullness of our blinded sight:
Anoint and cheer our soiled face
with the abundance of thy grace:
keep far our foes, give peace at home;
where thou art guide no ill can come.
Teach us to know the Father, Son,
and thee, of both, to be but One;
that through the ages all along
this may be our endless song,
Praise to thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen
–Latin, 8th century
