Illuminations
Like a Thief in the Night
by Anthony Esolen
Aslan the Lion has breathed the breath of life, calling, "Narnia, Narnia, Narnia! Awake!" It is the beginning of a world. The animals awake to reason and the spirit, and they begin to speak, each in his distinctive way—even to make jokes! Yet the cowardly and wicked magician, Uncle Andrew, hears nothing but the jabbering of wild animals. He is terrified, and Aslan gives him the mercy of unconsciousness, the only mercy that such as he can know.
C. S. Lewis suggests that the flames of hell are how the wicked experience the glory of Paradise, for God is the Selfsame, and should we descend into the pit, yet is he there. The fault lies not in the glory, but in the wicked.
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Anthony Esolen is the author of over thirty books, including Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church (Tan, with a CD), Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture (Regnery), and The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord (Ignatius). He has also translated Dante’s Divine Comedy (Random House). He and his wife Debra publish a web magazine, Word and Song (anthonyesolen.substack.com), on poetry, hymnody, language, classic films, and music. He is a senior editor of Touchstone.
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