Two Poems for the Start of Lent

Looking for a way to start Lent with a bang?  Here are two poems, one by a priest of the Church of England and Anglican Saint, Lent by George Herbert and another, Ash Wednesday by Church of England convert and general Anglophile, T.S. Elliot that might just do the trick.  Also, don’t forget to come out to our Lenten Series with Brooklyn College Professor Liv Yarrow on Subversive Language and the Early Church.

The Great Divorce

A Review of The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis 

-Willow Fodor

 Last Wednesday, I went with a group of young adults from
Brooklyn to see a stage adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ story The Great Divorce performed by The Magis Theater Company. It was a nearly word for word adaptation of the original with simple yet successful staging. My favorite visual effect was a talking water-fall that spoke with the voices of multiple actors.  

I was already familiar enough with the story to expect a spiritually minded play. Indeed, the story centers on the “divorce” between heaven and hell in a series of short vignettes each designed to explore both the human relationships of the people involved and their differing relationships to Divine Love. As with most of Lewis’ writing it was amazing to see how well the themes and ideas applied to our lives now. While his language reflects the culture of his time, the message of the power of Divine Love and human beings’ reluctance to give up their weak substitutes for it in this life seemed all too familiar to those of us who watched last week. 

In my opinion, Divine Love is at the core of the story. It opens with the audience literally on the stage while the actors mingle through the crowd and perform their first act. In this act everyone (actors and audience members) is waiting in the dusky rain for a bus to arrive and take us somewhere. Finally, the bus arrives and we all travel up and away to wherever it is we are going. The actors themselves appear to have little more idea than the audience about their final destination. When the bus comes to rest the audience is lead to their seats and the real drama begins. 

The whole production is narrated by a man who we later recognize as C.S. Lewis himself. Lewis finds himself in a strange place filled with harsh bright light and grass so sharp it is difficult to walk on. As he explores this unusual place he encounters various interactions between the people he has arrived with, who he calls ghosts because of their seemingly insubstantial appearance in comparison to their ultra-solid surroundings and angels, people who have apparently adapted to this new environment. 

In each case, a specific angel had been sent to persuade their corresponding ghost to journey “over the mountains”. The ghost is assured that not only is perfect peace and love waiting for them on the mountain, but that they too will grow solid enough to enjoy what is now a very painful and overwhelming atmosphere. As the angel and the ghost discuss this we are shown that too often the ghost is reluctant to give up something in themselves or their life back in hell/purgatory where they came from in order to continue on their journey to the mountain. 

Lewis’ message of human choices and Divine Love rings true to today’s audience. There are several images that stayed with me after the play. One was the power of good or bad choices in life to color our memory and understanding of the past. On one hand, anger or selfishness in a relationship can turn even past sweetnesses sour, and on the other, kindness and honesty can also spread back in time to heal scars left by past hurts. Another image I found powerful was that God did not appear in the play to lead the ghosts to eternal happiness, instead it was a friend, a sister, or a lover who came to lead the person and it was strength of their relationship that helped persuade the ghost to make the journey into the mountains.  

I was reminded repeatedly of the importance of community in all of our lives and how much we depend on our friends to help us along the journey to Divine Love. I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of Lewis’ story and read it for themselves. Let me know what you think.

Welcome

Welcome to our new blog.  We are a group of young adults (18-35) in the Episcopal Archdeaconry of Brooklyn.  We’re dedicated to creating a sacred space in which we can come together as a community to explore the issues that matter.