Week 12: Chapter 11 — The Great Ones of Heaven

1.The narrator witnesses a great procession of heavenly beings and at first assumes the central figure — surrounded by joy and celebration — must be the Virgin Mary or some great historical saint. He is told she is an ordinary woman named Sarah Smith of Golders Green — unknown to the world, but immense in Heaven. What does this reversal say about how God evaluates a human life?

2.Lewis writes that Sarah Smith loved not just her own family and friends but every person she met — her love 'overflowed' naturally to strangers, animals, even the smallest creatures. This expansive, almost cosmic love has made her truly great in Heaven. How does Lewis's portrait of Sarah Smith challenge conventional ideas of greatness — both religious and secular?

3.MacDonald points out that in Heaven, there is no envy of the greater saints — the less great share in the joy of the greater ones without resentment. He says the higher a person is in Heaven, the more fully joy is shared and spread. How does this contrast with the dynamics of the Grey Town, where every interaction is a competition?