Of Goblins and Spirits

In George MacDonald’s children’s story, “The Princess and the Goblin,” eight-year-old Princess Irene does her best to give Curdie, a young miner, knowledge of her “great, great, great, great, grandmother," who leads her through life with a “golden thread.” In the sequel, “The Princess and Curdie," a motley assemblage of misshapen animals, each with his or her particular ability, helps Curdie save the kingdom.

Each story allegorically portrays MacDonald’s belief that, “Every one of us is something that the other is not, and therefore knows something—it may be without knowing that he knows it—which no one else knows: and . . . it is everyone’s business, as one of the kingdom of light and inheritor in it all, to give his portion to the rest.”

Paul the Apostle put it this way:
I Corinthians 12: 8-11
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
I Corinthians 14: 26
What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.