The Great Divorce<\/em><\/a>. This is a story about a man who finds himself in a bus queue in Hell and makes a journey to Heaven. In Heaven, the denizens of Hell find themselves thin and ghost-like, while everything in Heaven is more solid and real than anywhere else. While in Heaven, Lewis overhears several conversations between people who knew each other on Earth, but one has gone to Hell and the other Heaven. It is the Heavenly beings\u2019 job to try and persuade the Hellions to remain in Heaven.<\/p>\nBelow, I have cited in full one of the most interesting conversations. The conversation is between a former factory foreman and one of his workers who had committed murder in his life on Earth. The foreman\u2019s mantra is \u2018I\u2019m just here to get my rights.\u2019 He thinks he\u2019s been hard done by and that his rights have been violated. Read the conversation below and see what the Heavenly Spirit has to say about rights and charity in Heaven. I hope you enjoy.<\/p>\n
Yours,<\/p>\n
David<\/p>\n
\u2018\u201cDon\u2019t you know me?\u201d he shouted to the Ghost: and I found it impossible not to turn and attend. The face of the solid spirit\u2013\u2013he was one of those that wore a robe\u2013\u2013made me want to dance, it was so jocund, so established in youthfulness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019m damned,\u201d said the Ghost. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have believed it. It\u2019s a fair knock-out. It isn\u2019t right, Len, you know. What about poor Jack, eh? You look pretty pleased with yourself, but what I say is, What about poor Jack?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is here,\u201d said the other. \u201cYou will meet him soon, if you stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you murdered him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I did. It is all right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right, is it? All right for you, you mean. But what about the poor chap himself, laying cold and dead?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he isn\u2019t. I have told you, you will meet him soon. He sent you his love.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019d like to understand,\u201d said the Ghost, \u201cis what you\u2019re here for, as pleased as Punch, you, a bloody murderer, while I\u2019ve been walking the streets down there and living in a place like a pigstye all these years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is a little hard to understand at first. But it is over now. You will be pleased about it presently. Till then there is no need to bother about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo need to bother about it? Aren\u2019t you ashamed of yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Not as you mean. I do not look at myself. I have given up myself, I had to, you know, after the murder. That was what did it for me. And that was how everything began.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPersonally,\u201d said the Big Ghost with an emphasis which contradicted the ordinary meaning of the word, \u201cPersonally, I\u2019d have thought you and I ought to be the other way round. That\u2019s my personal opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery likely we soon shall be,\u201d said the other. \u201cIf you\u2019ll stop thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at me, now,\u201d said the Ghost, slapping its chest (but the slap made no noise). \u201cI gone straight all my life. I don\u2019t say I was a religious man and I don\u2019t say I had no faults, far from it. But I done my best all my life, see? I done my best by everyone, that\u2019s the sort of chap I was. I never asked for anything that wasn\u2019t mine by rights. If I wanted a drink I paid for it and if I took my wages I done my job, see? That\u2019s the sort I was and I don\u2019t care who knows it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be much better not to go on about that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s going on? I\u2019m not arguing. I\u2019m just telling you the sort of chap I was, see? I\u2019m asking for nothing but my rights. You may think you can put me down because you\u2019re dressed up like that (which you weren\u2019t when you worked under me) and I\u2019m only a poor man. But I got to have my rights same as you, see?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no. It\u2019s not so bad as that. I haven\u2019t got my rights, or I should not be here. You will not get yours either. You\u2019ll get something far better. Never fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just what I say. I haven\u2019t got my rights. I always done my best and I never done nothing wrong. And what I don\u2019t see is why I should be put below a bloody murder like you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho knows whether you will be? Only be happy and come with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you keep arguing for? I\u2019m only telling you the sort of chap I am. I only want my rights. I\u2019m not asking for anybody\u2019s bleeding charity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen do. At once. Ask for the Bleeding Charity. Everything is here for the asking and nothing can be bought.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat may do very well for you, I daresay. If they choose to let in a bloody murderer all because he makes a poor mouth at the last moment, that\u2019s their look out. But I don\u2019t see myself going in the same boat as you, see? Why should I? I don\u2019t want charity. I\u2019m a decent man and if I had my rights I\u2019d have been here long ago and you can tell them I said so.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other shook his head. \u201cYou can never do it like that,\u201d he said. \u201cYour feet will never grow hard enough to walk on our grass that way. You\u2019d be tired out before we got to the mountains. And it isn\u2019t exactly true, you know.\u201d Mirth danced in his eyes as he said it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat isn\u2019t true?\u201d asked the Ghost sulkily.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t a decent man and you didn\u2019t do your best. We none of us were and none of us did. Lord bless you, it doesn\u2019t matter. There is no need to go into it all now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou!\u201d gasped the Ghost. \u201cYou<\/i> have the face to tell me<\/i> I wasn\u2019t a decent chap?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course. Must I go into all that? I will tell you one thing to begin with. Murdering old Jack wasn\u2019t the worst thing I did. That was the work of a moment and I was half mad when I did it. But I murdered you in my heart, deliberately, for years. I used to lie awake at nights thinking what I\u2019d do to you if I ever got the chance. That is why I have been sent to you now: to ask your forgiveness and to be your servant as long as you need one, and longer if it pleases you. I was the worst. But all the men who worked under you felt the same. You made it hard for us, you know. And you made it hard for your wife too and for your children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mind your own business, young man,\u201d said the Ghost. \u201cNone of your lip, see? Because I\u2019m not taking any impudence from you about my private affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no private affairs,\u201d said the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ll tell you another thing,\u201d said the Ghost. \u201cYou can clear off, see? You\u2019re not wanted. I may be only a poor man but I\u2019m not making pals with a murderer, let alone taking lessons from him. Made it hard for you and your like, did I? If I had you back there I\u2019d show you what work is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCome and show me now,\u201d said the other with laughter in his voice, \u201cIt will be joy going to the mountains, but there will be plenty of work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t suppose I\u2019d go with you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t refuse. You will never get there alone. And I am the one who was sent to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s the trick, is it?\u201d shouted the Ghost, outwardly bitter, and yet I thought there was a kind of triumph in its voice. It had been entreated: it could make a refusal: and this seemed to it a kind of advantage. \u201cI thought there\u2019d be some damned nonsense. It\u2019s all a clique, all a bloody clique. Tell them I\u2019m not coming, see? I\u2019d rather be damned than go along with you. I cam here to get my rights, see? Not to go snivelling along on charity tied to your apron-strings. If they\u2019re too fine to have me without you, I\u2019ll go home.\u201d It was almost happy now that it could, in a sense, threaten. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ll do,\u201d it repeated, \u201cI\u2019ll go home. I didn\u2019t come to be treated like a dog. I\u2019ll go home. That\u2019s what I\u2019ll do. Damn and blast the whole pack of you \u2026\u201d In the end, still grumbling, but whimpering also a little as it picked its way over the sharp grasses, it made off.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Friends and Family, This term, I have been sitting on a class taught by Alison Milbank called\u00a0Religion and Fantasy. It has been an excellent class and an opportunity for me to re-read some of my old favourites and discuss their theological implications with others. One the texts we read for this course was C. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2795,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,21],"tags":[72,162,285,329,564,658],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c-s-lewis","category-faeriean-metaphysics","tag-alison-milbank","tag-charity","tag-fantasy","tag-great-divorce","tag-rights","tag-the-great-divorce"],"yoast_head":"\n
Relying on the Bleeding Charity instead of Our Rights: Lessons from Lewis's Great Divorce<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dear Friends and Family, This term, I have been sitting on a class taught by Alison Milbank called\u00a0Religion and Fantasy. It has been an excellent class\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Relying on the Bleeding Charity instead of Our Rights: Lessons from Lewis's Great Divorce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Friends and Family, This term, I have been sitting on a class taught by Alison Milbank called\u00a0Religion and Fantasy. It has been an excellent class\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Letters from the Edge of Elfland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-11T11:00:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Russell Mosley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Russell Mosley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/\",\"name\":\"Relying on the Bleeding Charity instead of Our Rights: Lessons from Lewis's Great Divorce\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-11T11:00:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-11T11:00:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/#\/schema\/person\/bb40aff2024eb10c649f23de6d14d2b0\"},\"description\":\"Dear Friends and Family, This term, I have been sitting on a class taught by Alison Milbank called\u00a0Religion and Fantasy. It has been an excellent class\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Relying on the Bleeding Charity instead of Our Rights: Lessons from Lewis's Great Divorce\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/\",\"name\":\"Letters from the Edge of Elfland\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/#\/schema\/person\/bb40aff2024eb10c649f23de6d14d2b0\",\"name\":\"David Russell Mosley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d64d9e08d94b5a76496d3e8a6e939a89?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d64d9e08d94b5a76496d3e8a6e939a89?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Russell Mosley\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/author\/drmosley\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Relying on the Bleeding Charity instead of Our Rights: Lessons from Lewis's Great Divorce","description":"Dear Friends and Family, This term, I have been sitting on a class taught by Alison Milbank called\u00a0Religion and Fantasy. It has been an excellent class","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Relying on the Bleeding Charity instead of Our Rights: Lessons from Lewis's Great Divorce","og_description":"Dear Friends and Family, This term, I have been sitting on a class taught by Alison Milbank called\u00a0Religion and Fantasy. It has been an excellent class","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/","og_site_name":"Letters from the Edge of Elfland","article_published_time":"2013-03-11T11:00:34+00:00","author":"David Russell Mosley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Russell Mosley","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/","name":"Relying on the Bleeding Charity instead of Our Rights: Lessons from Lewis's Great Divorce","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-03-11T11:00:34+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-11T11:00:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/#\/schema\/person\/bb40aff2024eb10c649f23de6d14d2b0"},"description":"Dear Friends and Family, This term, I have been sitting on a class taught by Alison Milbank called\u00a0Religion and Fantasy. It has been an excellent class","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/2013\/03\/11\/relying-on-the-bleeding-charity-instead-of-our-rights-lessons-from-lewiss-great-divorce\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Relying on the Bleeding Charity instead of Our Rights: Lessons from Lewis's Great Divorce"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/","name":"Letters from the Edge of Elfland","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/#\/schema\/person\/bb40aff2024eb10c649f23de6d14d2b0","name":"David Russell Mosley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d64d9e08d94b5a76496d3e8a6e939a89?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d64d9e08d94b5a76496d3e8a6e939a89?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"David Russell Mosley"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/author\/drmosley\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/elflandletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}