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'The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.' And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all stories, and we can most truly say they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. (ch. 16)

C. S. Lewis#162

HopeStorytellingPurposeEternityAfterlife

About this quote

What does it mean?
Earthly life is just the cover page to a greater eternal story beginning after death.
In plain terms
Death starts the real adventure, not the end.
What can you take from it?
View life as preparation for something greater.

Where it applies

  • mourning
  • reflecting on death
  • seeking purpose

Putting it to work

  • reframe grief
  • focus on eternal perspective

Questions to consider

  • What story are you living?
  • Is this end or beginning?

Another view

This assumes belief in an afterlife.

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