Faces and Hope

So I recently read The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.  I love his books!!:)  Anyway, I read it as part of a book club and I learned so much more about the book from the book club, so yea for book clubs!!!:) 

My first thought is what is holding each ghost back?  So I took notes on each ghost and it seemed it mostly came down to pride and selfishness; they wouldn't give up their sin, for a glorious life.  I know we all have our favorite sins, but as I read through I couldn't really relate to any of the ghosts specific sins.  I definitely have sins of omission, I spend too much time on the computer when I should be doing more productive things (basically I don't use my time wisely) and I do yell at my kids sometimes - it is really hard for me to overcome this one.  I can be pushy, and although I know better I do compare myself to others and judge others unkindly. (This is part of my trying to be more real!:)

Then I went to book club and we started talking about the dwarf ghost who held a tragedian on a chain.  We talked about how he was living with a face, instead of being who he really was.  And I realized that I do that all the time.  In fact when I was first married it drove my husband crazy.  Haha!:)  But I would be upset and then we would have to go somewhere and I would be happy the whole time we were there and as soon as we were alone again I would be upset.  On the one hand I'm glad that I can show my true self to those who I truly love (my husband, and a few good friends), but at the same time I wish I could be my true and real self all the time to everyone.  Sometimes I think that people won't like me as much or think as highly of me if I were who I really was, but time after time that has been proven wrong to me, I guess I ought to just get over my pride and become real!!!:)

One other thing that I really liked in the book; we didn't see too many endings, so there was hope for most of the ghosts in the book and the Spirit that meets the narrator tells him that if there is even a spark inside the ghost that the spirits will flame it until it burns bright!!!:)

I also liked the scene where the ghost overcomes his obstacle and is the better for it.  How true that is; sometimes in life, it is so hard to give up our sins, we think we are going to die without them, but when we finally let them go we are changed for the better.  The letting go does hurt us, but the sacrifice is worth it!!!:)

--"For most followers of Christ, our sacrifices involve what we can do on a day-to-day basis in our ordinary personal  lives."  Dallin H. Oaks, Sacrifice, April 2012 Conference