Deep Dive: The Screwtape Letters

 A Deep Dive into The Screwtape Letters

When a galpal and I decided to read The Screwtape Letters and discuss it when we finished, I knew very quickly after starting that I would end up doing a deep dive post. Though I've read this work twice already, that first letter already had me doing some thinking. My hope is to keep this post open from the start and add thoughts as I read, which is different from my usual method of writing after reading the entire work.

Introduction

The main thing that struck me was that C. S. Lewis warns the reader that the demons are unreliable narrators. I don't think I've kept that in mind when I've read this previously, and I'm curious to see if it will lead me to question anything this time around.

Letter 1

Letter 1 brings home to me how timely this book is for our time. Even though it was published 82 years ago, Lewis gets something frighteningly right about our own time: even if we are convicted of something intellectually, we won't necessarily act on it - probably not, unless our emotions are involved. And yet, at the same time, the senior demon warns the junior one to not try to use reason too much with the temptee, as reason is something that is, in fact, the rightful tool of God and a weapon that will always be a liability for the demons to use.

I also felt called out by this line, following a warning to avoid letting the temptee think about big questions: "Your business is to fix his attention on the stream [of immediate sense experiences]. Teach him to call it 'real life' and don't let him ask what he means by 'real'."

How often do I plug in my headphones to listen to a podcast while doing chores, or turn on an audiobook in quiet moments at work, and drown out the silence? I like to have ideas or stories filling my consciousness, and while the audio input takes the dreariness out of some tasks, am I not missing out on great opportunities to sit in silence in God's presence?

Letter 3

This letter concerns the temptee's relationship with his mother and highlights that an internal or intellectual charity towards someone means nothing if we don't act out that love. I can't say I care for my parents if I never offer to help them with things they may need, or never visit them, or ever see if there is some service I can do for them.

Something else that stood out to me was the comment, "let him think how much he dislikes it." They reason this part of a line jumped out at me is because it points to the way our thoughts can lead us astray. Temptations come from the flesh, the world, or Satan, but regardless of where they come from, a temptation can start with one little thought. If we take it seriously, and assume that every thought that pops into our head is true, and that we have to follow it to its conclusion, then we are in serious trouble. A thought that comes to mind isn't necessarily what we truly believe - it may be nothing more (or less) than a temptation.

Letter 4

This letter includes a portion that reminds me that how I hold my body for prayer matters. While being in the "perfect" posture for prayer isn't everything, sitting in a way that encourages alertness and concentration could help me pray better. As Lewis has the demons point out, humans are integrated beings of body and spirit; what we do with the body affects the soul.

I am reminded to try to get to know God better, and not keep Him in some box or image that I have made of Him. I want to know the real Him, not an idea I've made up about Him.

Letter 5

This letter got to me in a very applicable way because I'd woken up several hours too early, worried about something related to work. So, when I went to read this letter, what do I find but one demon checking to see if the other had employed anxiety-inducing images or self-pitying thoughts to torment the temptee? While my anxious thoughts were probably more the result of my own thinking, it was good to have that called out so early in the morning. This letter does a good job of showing how God can write straight with the most crooked lines. For example, many people die in a war, but many go into battle with the understanding that they might not make it out alive - and thus, they are better prepared for death than those who are comfortable in the hospital and told lies about living when they're actually on death's doorstep. People may dedicate themselves to a poor cause, but if they do it in good conscience and didn't know any better, God can still work with their goodwill.

Letter 6

"There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human's mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them." (p. 200)

"What [God] means by this is primarily that he should accept with patience the tribulation which has actually been dealt out to him - the present anxiety and suspense." (p. 200)

These two quotes sum up most of my takeaway from this letter. The last bit I noted was that the senior tempter told the other to try to get the temptee to practice benevolence towards people he doesn't know - or aren't real - and malice towards those he does encounter in life. I feel that our society practices extreme malice towards those we don't know well, and more benevolence for those in our personal circle. However, I'm sure that I'm just as much in danger of practicing malice towards those I know as the next person, which keeps this work always timely to read.

Letter 7

This one, which focused on pacifism vs. patriotism, didn't seem quite as applicable to the modern day. However, if we look at politics, we can see how any issue can be split up into "left" and "right" and, given the right level of emotions, our beliefs about it can be twisted to our detriment.

Letters 8 and 9

I group these two together because they have to do with what, I realize, are consolations and desolations. That was a nice bit of Ignatian spirituality worked in that I hadn't recognized before! It also struck me that the demons will make use of everything they can, and while they can try to cause human failure in many ways, they cannot create. These letters emphasize to me that, ultimately, evil really is just a distortion of the good, and parasitic upon the good.

Letters 10-11

I got behind on typing up my thoughts for letters, but I don't think anything struck me from these two that I wanted to note.

Letters 12-13

I lumped these letters together because there are common themes that span both letters.

The part that stood out to me from Letter 12 was the idea that discomfort with the way we are living can make us not want to even think about God. I have found this to be true for me, in a way. It's a good reminder to me to keep turning to God, especially in the moments where I don't feel I want to.

The idea that spanned both letters was that of real pleasure. True pleasure, joy, and fun can lead us to God. If the devil could have his way, we'd do evil and not even enjoy it. So, while I might sometimes feel a twinge of guilt about not reading spiritual works every day, I can tell the "tiny puritan" in my head that reading a book I truly enjoy could point me toward God.

Letter 14

The tempters discussed how thoughts of "I'm being humble!" can be an opportunity for pride to work, and how laughter at such thoughts can mitigate the effects of pride. This sounded to me very much like my notes speaking to me, how laughing at silly, intrusive thoughts can be great medicine against them. Also, the fact that focusing on humility too much defeats the purpose, because humility involves looking at oneself less.

I'm not sure where this reflection came from (because I'm now weeks behind transferring my notes from the moment of reading to the blog here), but I made a note that there was an idea, perhaps inferred, that God might take something away, not only to give us something better, but possibly to give that thing back to us, better than it was before. 

Letter 15

"The Present is the point at which time touches eternity."

We can go astray by both by trying to create a future Heaven, but here on earth; or, by trying to avert a future hell here on earth. I think dystopian or apocalyptic tales show the extremes of this lack of trust in God.

Letter 16

The tempters brought up the fact that people can argue intensely about the right number of candles or right type of vestments. I think this point is a great reminder that, while those discussions do have a time and place, we need to remember that the important thing is the Mass. It's not the aesthetics that saves our soul - it's Jesus, and He becomes present at the Mass, regardless of the trappings.

Also included in this letter is the mention of St. Paul's exhortation to his readers to not do things that cause others to sin. So, in St. Paul's letter, I believe the matter he addressed was the eating of meats that had been sacrificed to idols. In our day, I think this is the best explanation of why modest dress matters. It's not only that "People need to guard their eyes and thoughts, regardless of how people dress." That is true, I am the only person who can make decisions about what to do with the images or thoughts I encounter. However, if I truly love my brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to not be an occasion of someone sinning, and that will probably affect the way I dress around others.

Letter 19

It seems I didn't have any striking thoughts with Letters 17 or 18. 

"More and more complicated theories, fuller and fuller collections of data, richer rewards for researchers who make progress, more and more terrible punishments for those who fail--all this, pursued and accelerated to the very end of time, cannot, surely, fail to succeed." (pg. 240)

I think this line stood out to me because it shows the utter inability of the demons to understand the love of God. It's not more complicated than they can figure out, it is so simple, and they cannot comprehend it.

Letters 20-21

The first paragraph of the first letter mentions that attacks from the enemy don't last forever. That is hard to remember in the moment, but God provides relief eventually, so we can be hopeful as we resist temptation.

In the first paragraph of the second letter, I found it striking that sometimes, when we're busy dealing with what we think is a "big temptation," that may actually be a front for what is really going on. I know that I tend to become irritable or susceptible to other tempting thoughts when I'm struggling with some big emotion or sorting through my thoughts. And I notice that I tend to eat sugary things I don't need when I'm stressed, too. It's a good reminder to watch the little things when a big temptation is going on.

I also felled called out in this second letter, about how the loss of "my" time is one of my biggest stumbling blocks. Few things irk me like having a wrench thrown in my schedule, and this is a great reminder that time is a sheer gift - it is not my own to do with as I please. It is God's, and if I must do something different with it than what I planned, then I should be happy to offer that time back to God.

Letter 22

I desire my house to be like that described by the tempter - a house that has the presence of love, and guests leave there with the scent of love of God wafting after them.

Also, the tempters hate both silence and music - but love noise. How interesting! I hear a lot about how noise keeps us from prayer and from hearing God's voice, but I don't often think of it being from the devil. It now seems to me that it is a moral duty to make sure there is silence in my life!

Letter 25

"We have trained them to think of the Future as a promised land which favoured heroes attain--not as something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." (pg. 259)

God is in the present moment. Life is happening right now, and this is the moment of grace. If I'm too caught up in what will happen, then I'm missing out on the graces that God wants to give me right now.

Letter 28

I felt called out by this letter because it spoke of people feeling too at home in the world. As I approach middle age and my husband and I become more established in our home, I am more and more drawn to the coziness of my home and my feeling of belonging here. However, as Theology of Home points out, I need to have my heart set on my heavenly home. I can't let myself feel too comfortable here.

I also noted that the tempters talk about keeping the temptee safe. Isn't that interesting, that they want the temptee to have a long life of good health, to provide more opportunities for turning away from God? It makes me think of Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series, in which Aslan is described as "not safe." The Christian life is not safe, and we can't make safety our ultimate goal.

Letter 31

It was really neat to have described the experience of the temptee dying, and how incredible were his visions of the guardian angels and of meeting the Lord. It's one of the rare instance of me being okay with one of the main characters dying.

Conclusions

By the time this post goes up, the number of people slated to discuss this book has doubled. I ended up finishing this sooner than I anticipated, and that's good: it allows me to take a smaller book to work to read on my lunch break. It's the sort of book that is a quick read if you sit down and read it through, but it takes a lot longer if you sit with it and just let your ideas come together. I found connections were made if I just made a little space to pause every letter or every few letters. It is uncomfortable to read on some level, but it's a good refresher on general things to watch for or try to grow in. The downside with the epistolary style is that I'll probably have to pull up this post to help me remember the most striking thoughts, but it worked for this writing - it couldn't have been anything different.