In the closing lines of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan assures Peter, Edmund, and Lucy they will never have to return to the Shadowlands: “There was a real railway accident, said Aslan softly. Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead.” 1 He then tells them that the endless “morning” or Heaven had finally dawned for them. For Lewis, the Shadowlands represent the shallowness, the illusory, and the impermanent nature of earth life. Only those who “divorce” themselves from their prideful attachment to it, can obtain Heaven or true happiness:
If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell. But what, you ask, of earth? Earth, I think, will not be found by anyone to be in the end a very distinct place. I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell: and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself.” 2
An alternative to the Shadowlands is the Stillands—a metaphoric place or state of mind that engenders all things peaceful, sanctifying, and eternal. Meditation provides access for abiding in the Stillands, and is excellent preparation for being more receptive to the “enticings” of the Holy Spirit. (Mosiah 3:19) Being meditative also helps us to let go of the cravings, obsessions, and attachments of the “carnal man,” (Moses 5:13) and to align ourselves with “currents of divine influence.” 3
1. C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. 16:228.
2. Ibid, The Great Divorce, Preface. New York: HarperCollins, 1973. XIII, IX.
3. Richard G. Scott, “He Lives” Ensign (Nov. 1999), 87.
This entry is from an article written by Gary A. Purse of BYU-Idaho published during the Spring of 2011 and entitled "Abiding in the Stillands: Time out for Peace in a Stress-Filled World"
The full article can be found at this address in PDF form: http://www.byui.edu/Documents/instructional_development/Perspective/Spring%202011/Gary%20Purse.pdf
