Sin and the Veil - Young

Orual, queen of Glome, is ugly. There's no getting around it. U-G-L-Y, no alibi, etc. Everybody says so and she knows it. Eventually, she dons a veil and never shows her face again. And the strangest thing begins to happen. She becomes powerful. Her advisors and subjects are drawn to the beauty of her voice, the justice of her rule, the prosperity that her wisdom brings to Glome. Inside, however, she is a wreck. Haunted by the loss of her sister and the neglect of her father, she clings to a close friend and advisor, but too much. She works him to exhaustion and an early death. Nearing the end of her own life, having lost all whom she loved, with no one yet alive who has ever seen her face, she falls into a trance and is granted a vision of the gods.

C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces, which my 7th graders and I just finished, is rich in metaphor and layered meanings. Read in light of 2 Corinthians 3, Orual's ugliness and her veil represent our sin and the lengths we go to conceal it. How often do we hide our sin and prosper (from the world's perspective), while inside we are a mess? How often do we appear powerful and effective to those far away and yet drive away those who love us?

Orual is only granted peace when she is forced to examine herself from the inside out, with no veil of protection, nothing between her and the gods. Ultimately she discovers and confesses her own sin, her own culpability in the train wreck of her life, and is forgiven. The meaning is right there, if we would see it. For "when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed... and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another." (2 Corinthians 3:16, 18) Praise the Lord for removing our veils, bringing us into the light, and transforming us further into the image of his Son! And, secondarily, praise the Lord for good books that help us to see that truth in another light. Happy reading, Classical families.

Sincerely,
Christian Young
Administrative Director