As the narrator of the story avows, the "good" creatures of Fairyland "will always help" the wanderer "far more than the evil ones will be able to hurt him."

Although the story has a religious Christian meaning, MacDonald's symbolic method is used to avoid overt sermonizing. Even more importantly, because the symbolism is suggestive rather than implicit, the story does not push any single narrow religious doctrine (in fact, neither God nor Church is mentioned).

Spirituality is presented undogmatically.