Letter 14

I found Letter 14 to be quite interesting and thought provoking. On page 71, Screwtape describes the topic of humility and what it really means. I found it very insightful to learn that to be humble is not to keep putting yourself down, but rather to be happy in all aspects of life, not being overly proud. He mentions the 'state of mind' that God wishes we embody; it is described by Screwtape with the example that God wants men to be "so free from any bias in his own favor that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor's talents, or in a sunrise, an elephant, or a waterfall."

I thought this was an amazing passage. It really made me think about how I react when I've accomplished something great, as opposed to one of my peers accomplishes the same thing. I will truthfully admit that I am more excited about something that I do myself, be it a great art project or getting the starting goalie position on my hockey team. If my peer would to win a prize for one of their paintings, I would be happy for them, but not in the same sense as if it was my own doing. I think this is a part of human nature; since we are small children, we are told to take pride in what we do, and our culture is quite competitive. However, I do really see Screwtape's point, or rather what he says that God wants us to live by. It is important to have confidence in yourself, but you should try to be appreciative of not only your talents, but the talents of others. We are all created by God, therefore, when any one of us does something well, it ultimately glorifies Him. Finally, I don't think that I could ever make a waterfall or a tree.

Letter 8

In letter 8, Screwtape describes humans as “amphibians,” due to their capacity to engage themselves in the spiritual world while embodying animal urges. The human also undergoes various ups and downs in their lives. Screwtape refers to them as “peaks and troughs,” respectfully. He notes that God’s work with the patient is done best when the patient is at his worst. It is an amazing event when a person to pray and give thanks to God while life is really getting them down.

I find this especially true. It’s difficult to remember how much is going well in life when a few things go wrong. As much that is wrong with life is still nothing compared to all that is beautiful. It’s very hard to thank God for the flowers and trees and the opportunities we have to go to college when we just had a fight with a close friend and failed our chemistry test. Anyone who can handle this situation with ease is pretty rare, but anyone who has felt the weight knows that it is difficult to focus on positives. Remembering that God loves us and thanking Him for the beautiful things He does, along with asking for strength when times get tough is a difficult thing to do. Who has ever been in this sort of situation? Have you ever asked God for strength and felt relief or has it been a lost cause?

Screwtape's 4th Letter

In letter 4, Screwtape is advising Wormwood on the topic of prayer, and how he can pull the patient farther away from the “Enemy,” which we all have figured out by now, is God. In the previous reading, we discovered that the patient is currently caring for his mother, who is in poor health. He has been praying for her, but his prayers somewhat reflect his personal feelings of his mother, be it frustration or whatever else. At any rate, the patient’s prayers are just the target for Wormwood and Screwtape to aim for in their efforts of causing his downfall.

They speak of dampening the patient’s intentions of praying all together. Also, to remind him of the “parrot-like” prayers most children memorize, often times against their will. Finally, Screwtape mentions the patient, or mankind in general, trying to manifest the feelings or actions they are praying for on their own. The example given is the idea of asking God for charity, and it doing so, they create charitable feelings for themselves. So, instead of sincerely asking God for charity, they feel sorry for themselves. This personal feeling makes them believe they are actually deserving of charity.

At the end of the chapter, Screwtape begins to describe the act of praying to an “image” of God. This doesn’t mean an idol, but rather an idea. For example, many followers of the Catholic faith have crucifixes hanging in their homes. Screwtape’s assertions would be similar to the person with the crucifix actually believing that the object embodied God.

This of course, isn’t true. God is all around, He’s omnipresent, yet His form is unknown to us. As humans, we cannot possibly know what God looks like or just how powerful His presence is. I think this is true; we simply can’t grasp God’s awesome presence. There was a passage in the Bible that we looked at the first night of class that echoed this idea. Moses wanted to know what God looked like. God responded by allowing Moses to see where He had been: His backside, if you will. He put Moses between two rocks, and as God passed, He put his hand up to block Moses’s view. The direct image of God would have killed Moses otherwise.

These ideas of prayer and praying actually to God, letting go of ourselves and our “images” of God and just praying, talking to Him, is what I think C.S. Lewis is telling us. It’s what we should be aiming for each time we pray.