"Work Backwards" has been a mantra of mine ever since I read The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. It is an amazing fantasy written in response to Blake's Marriage of Heaven and Hell. The book is a great example of Lewis' ability to create amazing imaginary landscapes which communicate profound spirtiual truths while delighting the soul with vivid images. It is a masterpiece.

I was reminded of my favourite C.S. Lewis quote earlier today by a confessional post by Gloamer in which he admits to being a "fan". What I truly love about this book is the way that Lewis suggests that "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 begining part of Heaven itself." The following excerpt communicates this in a very powerful way:

'Son,' he said, 'ye cannot in your present state understand eternity: when Anodos looked through the door of the Timelsee he brought no message back. But ye can get some likeness of it if ye say that both good and evil, when they are fully grown become retrospective. Not only in this valley but all their earthly past will have been Heaven to those who are saved. Not only the twighlight in that town, but all their life on earth too, will then be seen by the damned to have been Hell. That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, "No future bliss can make up for it, " not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. And of some sinful pleasure they say "Let me but have this and I'll take the consequences": little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past and contaminate the pleasure of the sin. Both processes begin even before death. The good man's past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven: the bad man's past already confirms his badness and is filled only with dreariness. And that is why, at the end of all things, when the sun rises and the twighlight turns to blackness down there, the Blessed will say "We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven", and the Lost, "We were always in Hell." And both will speak truly.'

C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce, Geoffrey Bless: London, 1952, pp 61&62

I am sure that I will be of those who look back and say "I have always been in Heaven," for despite the "remembered sorrows" I am sure that the joy of knowing Jesus will outweigh everything else; it will, and does, infuse all with value, meaning, enjoyment and life.

So with Heaven as my destination I determine to remember that every action works backwards and makes my life either Heaven or Hell. I don't want to get to the end of my life and say, "I have always lived in Hell." I don't want every joy and pleasure to be tainted by sin, selfishness and greed so that what I thought was sweet leaves nothing but a bitter taste. I want to get to the end and say "I never lived anywhere but Heaven." I want the sadness and pain to be turned to joy and light because I made Heaven my goal and loving the King of the Universe my prize. So now, I work backwards, changing my past because I have hope in the future.