The Vale of Soul-Making

For all that he can be a little melodramatic here and there, John Keats speaks my language. The background of this piece is from a photograph of the only time I’ve been to Yosemite. It was one of those days when everything seems to go wrong: my emotions were totally out of whack, it was cloudy and wet all day and it was the most crowded day of the year. And it was breathtakingly beautiful. The world is aptly named vale of tears, but there is always hope. I was revisiting one of my favorite books from childhood recently – C.S. Lewis’s The Last Battle. I was struck by about 5,000 things and may or may not have cried once or twice at how beautiful it was. But that aside, I was also struck by the changes that Narnia had wrought on Eustace and Jill – how in the Last Battle they are so noticeably stronger, nobler and happier than at the beginning of The Silver Chair. Then I realized that was the result of much struggle and suffering and unenviable situations. For a moment I envied Jill for her confrontation with the Lion on the cliffs at the world’s end and for all the situations that used to make me grateful I wasn’t in her shoes. I envied her until I realize that that’s exactly what God is always doing in my life. The darkest times, the confusion, the heartache and struggle, always bear the most fruit in my life.

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