The Valley of the Shadow of Life

Please forgive me, but another of my posts is going to focus on C.S. Lewis. This time though I'm quoting something from The Great Divorce. The story revolves around a person getting to travel from grey, shadowy streets to the outer rim of heaven. Lewis stresses that the image portrayed is not to be taken as literally heaven or hell. I still like the image never the less. The main character meets an angel or spirit in heaven and is able to ask the spirit many questions. The main character asks about the grey shadowy streets he traveled from and the place he is currently. The spirit responds:

"If they leave that grey town behind it will not have been Hell. To any that leaves it, it is Purgatory. And perhaps ye had better not call this country Heaven. Not Deep Heaven, ye understand. Ye can call it the Valley of the Shadow of Life. And yet to those who stay here it will have been Heaven from the first. And ye can call those sad streets in the town yonder the Valley of the Shadow of Death: but to those who remain there they will have been in Hell even from the beginning...But ye can get some likeness of it if ye say that both good and evil, when they are full grown, become retrospective. Not only this valley but all their earthly past will have been Heaven to those who are saved. Not only the twilight in that town, but all their life on Earth too, will then be seen by the damned to have been Hell."

The Valley of the Shadow of Life. Is that not what life actually is? A short while later in the story, Lewis equates Hell with a mirage, but Heaven he equates with Reality. I find that idea fascinating. Working backwards, those that choose all that is good will see their greatest struggles transformed into a glorious joy. After all if life is Real, how can it be anything other than the Valley of the Shadow of Life. It is important to stress that this is not to be taken literally. In the story those that choose to travel to the Valley have the option to leave, and many do. However, the main character has a realization that what he see unfolding in the Valley has in fact been unfolding throughout life. Choices matter, and while this is definitely a scary concept, I find comfort in the idea of good working retrospectively. How different life is lived when one has a concept of Reality, of Heaven.