It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed; and then cried:

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!” (The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis)

At times here in Ecuador I (Jody) look at the Andes and my heart aches both for their beauty and with the knowledge that someday I won’t be here to see them.

While I know that Heaven is going to be so different that no one can imagine it accurately—as different as the seed is from the plant—the Bible promises a new heaven and a new earth. I like Lewis’ idea that our love for this earth springs from its resemblance to our real home. It eases the ache of the transitory nature of this life.

“You need not mourn over Narnia, Lucy. All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures, have been drawn into the real Narnia through the Door. And of course it is different; as different as a real thing is from a shadow or as waking life is from a dream.”