·On page 70, Wormwood is told by Screwtape that
his patient’s humility and self-hatred/self-denial “may even do us good if they
keep the man concerned with himself, and, above all, if self-contempt can be
made the starting-point for contempt of other selves, and thus for gloom,
cynicism, and cruelty.” What does Screwtape mean and how is this the case?
On page 70, when Screwtape discusses the humility of
Wormwood's patient, he is basically trying to get the patient to equate
humility with low self-esteem and self-hatred. Screwtape advises Wormwood to
distort his patient's view of humility to mean self-disparagement rather than
considering others better than ourselves and looking not only to our own
interests but also to the interests of others as Philippians 2 describes. If
Wormwood’s patient adopts this ideal of humility, his cynical attitude will
inevitably cause depression and trap him in a state of perpetual
disconsolation. After identifying his own faults as a false fulfillment of
humility, his patient will turn to the mistakes of others and judge other
people harshly as well. As a result of focusing on negativity and all the
wrongs of this world and innumerable faults of folks around him, he will fall
into a deep hole of darkness and despair, which will gradually take on an aura
of normality for him, dragging him deeper and deeper into the pits of Satan and
farther away from God. Screwtape also wants the patient to see humility as
belittlement of one’s achievements, which will “introduce an element of
dishonesty and make-believe into the heart of what otherwise threatens to
become a virtue.” If Wormwood’s patient does indeed start to believe that
humility is simply a matter of self-disillusionment, he will not accept the
virtue for what is actually is because of the false appearance of self-deceit
he has assigned it. This mindset will draw the patient away from the Enemy
because God’s virtues will no longer hold the quality of being pure, earnest,
true qualities due to his misconstrued impressions.
· In what ways have you experienced
in your own life the uneasiness and distraction which is described in this
chapter?
I can relate to the discussion of distraction and
uneasiness in chapter 12. Screwtape wants the patient to transform his uneasiness
into distancing himself from God instead of seeking true repentance.
Eventually, this desire to avoid God for fear of confrontation will lead to
unproductivity, giving life a demeanor of nothingness and transforming purpose
into meaninglessness like the book of Ecclesiastes. Over time, this feeling of
lethargy will become harder to shake off the longer the nourishment of this
feeling is prolonged. Oftentimes, when we’re really stressed or under a lot of
pressure or just incredibly ill, this feeling of stagnancy can start to evolve
into a disconcerting reality. I’m kind of experiencing this uneasiness right
now because I’ve been sick for a few weeks and missed school today to go to the
doctor, and sometimes the whole situation seems hopeless because I’m afraid of
getting behind in school and wondering when I’ll get better and this illness
will pass. I’m also concerned about my relationships with other people because
I was supposed to make up a test after school today and since I was not able
to, I’m fearful of the repercussions from my teachers. I think everything I’m
dealing with is pretty minor but it seems to loom larger when you’re sick and
weak. I don’t really like to dwell on personal struggles though because the
world is a million times bigger than me, and I don’t want contemplation to ever
turn into self-pity, which I absolutely despise. I think my problem is similar
to Wormwood’s patient in that I need to learn to put my faith in God completely
and trust him with all my heart as Peter did when he said, “The Lord will
rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his
heavenly kingdom,” as recounted in 2 Timothy 4:18. I need to have that same
faith in God that he will help me through difficulties. Peter did not
say that God “might” save him; he said God “will” save him, and that to me
exemplifies ultimate trust in God’s word, which can serve as our defense
against notions of nihility.
- Why is a persistent focus on the FUTURE part of the Enemy's (Satan's) overall plan for our undoing? To what degree do you believe the culture of the United States to be focused or fixated on the FUTURE?
A persistent focus on the future is part of Satan’s overall plan for our undoing because constant focus on the future instills in us a fear of either hope or anxiety and can even fill us with dread if our expectations do not come to full fruition. Satan is pleased if one is calm and tranquil regarding prospects of the future due to a false sense of security, complacency, or too high a regard for his own abilities. Several sources of wisdom have warned us against this kind of nonchalant disposition. Phillips Brooks once said, “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men!” When one, as described in the novel, prays for virtues wherewith to meet the difficulties and struggles in store for him and focuses on the present where all consciousness dwells, he is out of Satan’s grasp. We must also be wary to not adopt a sense of complacency about the future because of trust in our own abilities. Proverbs 3:5 reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Leaning on our own understanding and justifying contentment about the future with this reasoning is dangerous, because as humans, we are fallible and can easily be lead astray if we do not look to the right sources for inspiration, which only God can provide indefinitely and unlimitedly. I think the culture of the United States is often too fixated on the future. We are consistently thinking about future plans, future goals and ambitions, future dreams, which is fine in moderation but we often muse over the future in excess. Oftentimes, we mull over the colleges we plan to attend, the work we have scheduled, or even the plans we have for next summer to a degree where our aspirations almost become imperious in their control over us. At the point where we are consumed by thoughts of the future, our thoughts take on the form of a stronghold and can actually separate us from God. Sometimes, we need to take things one step at a time and remember the prayer asking God to give us our daily bread.
- On page 81, Screwtape tells Wormwood,
"Surely you know that if a man can't be cured of churchgoing, the
next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the
church that 'suits' him." Why would Satan and his ambassadors
want us to do this?
In Chapter 16, Screwtape advises Wormwood to instill in his
patient a desire to go church hopping.
Satan and his ambassadors would likely want us to do this because this
kind of desire arises from a mindset that implies self-superiority and nurtures
the idea of a position of judgment rather than the role of a student and pupil
who engages in worship with his fellow Christians. This reasoning reminds me of
a chapel we once had where the speakers were stressing our collective role of
worshipping God and fulfilling his service together. They reminded us that the
people who speak and perform in chapel are not to be judged by us on their
performance; that role is reserved for God alone, but rather we are ALL
performing for God through listening attentively and receiving his word with
open hearts. Satan desires to reverse this role and wants us to adopt an
attitude of a critic rather than a pupil. Screwtape describes how God is the
exact opposite and “wants of the layman in church an attitude which may be
critical in the sense of rejecting what is false or unhelpful, but which is
wholly uncritical in the sense that it does not appraise-does not waste time in
thinking about what it rejects but lays itself open in uncommenting, humble
receptivity to any nourishment that is going.” Satan would discourage adopting
his kind of humble servitude, because in this condition, we are able to allow
God’s Holy Spirit to engulf us and fill our lives, and Satan does not want us
to be fulfilled. By allowing his patient to go church seeking, Wormwood’s
patient would take on the false, misleading role of a teacher or rabbi and
become blind to his true, actual role as God’s son.
- In essence, Screwtape tells Wormwood that the
whole principle by which Hell functions and operates is COMPETITION: "My
good is my good and your good is yours. What one gains another
loses." Do you think there is truth in this? Why or why not? Is
it possible for life to operate by the "win/win" principle in
which everyone wins and no one loses? How have you seen competition to be
healthy? Unhealthy?
- In his concluding remarks to Wormword in this
letter, Screwtape says: “They [humans] regard the intention of loyalty
to a partnership for mutual help, for the preservation of chastity, and
for the transmission of life, as something lower than a storm of emotion.”
In your own words, describe what Screwtape is saying here.
Ø I don’t think Screwtape’s comment
about the good of individuals being non-mutual is valid. The statement “my good
is my good and your good is yours” completely contradicts the concept of
community, which we rely upon and draw strength from, and for this reason
cannot be true. This view is the polar opposite of that expressed in Countee
Cullen’s poem “Any Human to Another” which states “your grief and mine must
intertwine, like sea and river, be fused and mingle, diverse yet single,
forever and forever.” Cullen presents her idea of community through the meaning
of empathy, which is nonexistent in Satan’s world. Screwtape in his letter
states that God aims to show how “things are to be many, yet somehow also one.”
I think it is very possible, even essential, for life to operate by the
“win/win” principle. Often collaboration and cooperation rather than
competition offer the best solutions to everyday problems. By reaching a
consensus, all people will benefit leading to further progress rather than the
gain of some at the expense of others. Competition does have its arena,
however, and can be healthy if serving as a source of motivation to be the best
we can be. Competition has proved to be a good thing when it drives people to
strive to produce the best results possible, but can be harmful when one fails
to see the bigger picture and places the individual interests above those of
the community. Competition becomes unhealthy when one decides to extract all
possible benefits from a community without remembering to give back to it.
Ø When
Screwtape says that humans “regard the intention of loyalty to a partnership for mutual
help, for the preservation of chastity, and for the transmission of life, as
something lower than a storm of emotion,” he is referring to people’s tendency
to place emotionalism on a higher shelf than commitment. Screwtape means that
often we tend to yield to the unpredictable, randomly chaotic, inconsistent
emotions that we experience as a result of change in circumstance rather than
embracing a consistent attitude of temperance and patience. Because long-term
commitment and loyalty sharply contrast with this often accepted indulgence in
emotions rather than paradigms, Screwtape suggests that our view of marriage
and fidelity is flawed in a way that benefits his corrupt intentions.
Calm, serene, peaceful, tranquil, uneventful, desolate, deserted, empty, quiet, still, static, stagnant. Pathos pervades the atmosphere, the clock strikes noon, yet this bucolic side of town is not without vitality. A gentle breeze from the north carries the flowers from the Bradford pears like snowflakes to the deep green grass, occulted from the naked eye. Tulips line the edge of the center, circular garden bed, bright red and brilliant yellow. Leafcutter ants dot the sidewalk, inconspicuous in the breadth of the vast landscape. The streets are silent, taciturn, the homes uninhabited, abandoned, dead. The chipped paint and the straining planks a tribute to toil, the wandering words drifting through my mind one to tautology. Poignant, nostalgic, reminiscent memories float through time, space appears surreal, dimension retains no form or shape and begins to resemble a tesseract, tangible characteristics steadily disappear. Gravity capitulates, and for a few moments, the universe, still intact, lies prostrate, motionless, frozen. Introspection breeds doubt, questions, qualms, the use of singular indefinite nouns that have lost their amateur status to deduce broad, all-encompassing but often misleading, generalizations. Dreaming of another place, another time, counterfactual thinking overwhelming, curiosity overflowing, pressure suffocating. The eras begin to blur, all phenomenology and ontology a whirling, convoluted spiral, evocative of the Mandelbrot set, till time readopts its fleeting nature, the porch boards gradually reemerge, and the gentle back-and-forth motion of a rocking chair can once more be discerned.
