experiencing healing in the presence of God
C.S. Lewis brilliantly provides a creative retelling of the myth of Psyche in his work Till We Have Faces. The original account of Psyche is left undisturbed while Lewis invites his readers to consider the matter from the perspective of a loving sister. Through this work, grief and heartache are experienced through the guise of anger and bitterness as the character lives much of her existence furious at the gods because of the death of Psyche. She shakes her fists and demands answers but lives convinced that she will never see justice or be provided with answers.
Much of the novel carries on with heaviness and despair as the heroine of Lewis’ tale makes great advances in her life that cannot be celebrated because of her looming depression and anger. To this, those that have suffered loss find glimpses of solace and solidarity; the toil of grief often includes the taboo struggle of wrestling with anger toward God, and Lewis allowed these readers to have a sense of catharsis through his heroine. For all struggling with grief, it is important to know that we are allowed to grieve with tears, struggle with confusion, and wrestle with anger—God is big enough to handle it; He cares enough to allow it.
While catharsis offers an aspect of healing in its own right, Lewis ends his tale with theological significance. His heroine, upon finally being able to (in a Job-like manner) plead her case in the heavens where she is ushered into the presence of God. It is there, in the high court of heaven filled with the presence of God, that she discovers that all of her questions are lovingly silenced and fulfilled. To say that God is the answer, while truthful, does not provide an understanding of the miraculous only present within His presence. To seek God is not to find a source of answers and explanations but rather to come face-to-face with The Answer, the only answer that has ever mattered.
Till We Have Faces is a must read for many reasons; but, it stands as an important reminder to pursue the presence of God and find healing in Him as opposed to demanding explanations to questions that can only truly be answered by His embrace.
Lewis, C.S. Till We Have Faces; a myth retold. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 1956.