Lament for Susan Pevensie

[Midge]

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

:blush: And one of my favorites, too.



I understand, I just disagree. But, according to your beliefs, why is it morbid to feel joy at somebody dying? Shouldn't you be happy? Even the loss shouldn't be the sadness of departure- after all you know you'll be seeing them again, in a better place. Really, the feeling should be one of envy- they get to go on holiday early, while you're stuck at work- yet somehow no religion seems to actually view it that way.

Okay, let me rephrase that. It's morbid to feel happiness at someone dying. They may be in a much better state now, especially if they died of chronic medical complications, but feeling happy about it like saying, "Oh, I'm SO glad they're gone!" You don't do that. You miss them. You cry. You are glad they're in heaven, but at the same time, you're sad that they are gone.

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

And what if she doesn't? Will they feel joy about that, too?

"Remember our sister, Susan?"
"Oh, yes- I'm so glad she went into the Shadows and is lost to us forever- say, why don't we go Further Up and Further In? I'm sure the apples there will be even better."

This is where we get into such a lot of speculation. There's no knowing about all this because Lewis didn't write about it. What he did say at the very end was that it was the beginning of the most beautiful story in the world, with each chapter better than the one before it. As terrible as it may seem, I don't see them even saying, "Remember our sister, Susan?" I don't think they would have forgotten her, but their minds would so occupied with other joyful things that they wouldn't have time, room, or desire for any sorrowful thing.

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

Again, doesn't that mean we should hope that everybody (including ourselves) dies as young as possible- I know we're not supposed to kill ourselves, but wouldn't a train crash be like winning the lottery?

Well... everyone probably has times and situations where they think, "Death would be better than living through this." Every college kid during finals thinks that, I'm sure. However, we were set on earth to live for Christ. You make it sound like people should stay alive as long as they're unbelievers and then when they become a believer, should not have any reason to live. That's the opposite of how it is. Believing in Christ gives one the most fulfilling reason to live ever: to bring glory to God.

In the case of the Pevensies, Aslan had given them a charge: He had another name in our world, and the Pevensies were to discover that name and grow ever closer to Aslan thus (we hear him say this to Edmund and Lucy in VDT, and I'm sure that it is similar to what he told Peter and Susan in PC). Susan didn't live up to that. And the thing is that they wanted to grow close to Aslan. In VDT, Lucy says, "It isn't Narnia, you know. It's YOU." when talking about what they would miss the most from not coming back to Narnia. But it's the same thing for believers in our world. Once they are saved, they are charged with living a godly lifestyle (for the glory of God) for the rest of their life. I don't think that includes hoping for death, although it does entail a desire to be united with Christ and continually anticipate His return.

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

Here's a question- why did Lewis feel he had to kill the Pevensie children's parents as well? After all, as Peter himself says, they had nothing to do with Narnia.

P.S. - Love "Arsenic and Old Lace" - my mother played one of the old ladies in her Little Theater group when I was a kid.

IMHO, Lewis used the Calormene Emeth being "admitted" to the better Narnia to show that Aslan was not a local god. That is a policy that it is very possible to think based on the other books. Aslan is majorly Narnia's (and possibly Archenland's) deity. I think he used the Pevensie parents as another example to show that Aslan (or God) is not a local god, although this time it's a different type of local. With Emeth, it was country to country. With the Pevensies, it was universe to universe. Remember in TMN, Lewis says that Narnia is a place you can only get to by magic, that no matter how far you traveled in our universe you'd never get there? Aslan isn't only a god across countries, He's a god across universes! How amazing!

P.S. Yes, "Arsenic and Old Lace" is so funny! It makes me cringe watching it, but it's worth it every time.