A excerpt from the story of The Princess and The Goblin.
Curdie, a strapping young miner, has been captured by goblins and is trapped in a cave. One night little Irene, hearing goblins in her house, takes out a magic thread given to her by her fairy grandmother and starts to follow it. It takes her right down into the darkness she most dreads, but she follows it in faith, finds Curdie and leads him out. But Curdie can’t see or feel the thread. He tells Irene, “I’m grateful that you saved my life, but I don’t believe in your grandmother or the thread.” Vexed, she protests, how could I have ever saved you without the thread?” When Irene’s fairy grandmother appeared next, the grandmother says, “He is a good boy, Curdie, and a brave boy. Aren’t you glad you got him out?”
“Yes grandmother,” says Irene, “but it wasn’t very good of him not to believe me when I was telling him the truth.” Here is how the grandmother answers: “People must believe what they can, and those who believe more must not be hard upon those who believe less. I doubt you would have believed it all yourself if hadn’t sen some of it.”
Faith is ultimately not a virtue; it’s a gift
- the King’s Cross, Timothy Keller
