Screwtape Letters (Letter 31)

This book still just really confuses me and I do not enjoy reading it at all.  I feel like I get lost from the very first sentence that I read and never can truly get back into the book.  In this letter Wormwood has lost his patient to the enemy.  I am not quite sure if this lose was due to the fact that the patient died, or if he just recognized that Wormwood was working for Satan and turned away from him, does anyone know which scenario is true? I would assume that the patient died, because I feel like it is hard to live a life where you can recognize Satan completely and knowingly refuse him.  There are too many temptations in our everyday world for us to simply say no.  

The whole rest of the letter was very confusing and I have no idea what Screwtape was trying to tell Wormwood.  If anyone can clarify this for me that would be wonderful.  I am really frustrated, because I thought that the farther we read into the book the more I would understand, but I still seem to find myself very lost.  Please, I need your HELP!!! Thank you!

Screwtape Letters (Letter 22)

This was a very confusing letter for me to understand and I hope that someone who read it can give me a little more insight into what Screwtape is trying to tell his nephew.  

The letter begins by brining up the patient's new girlfriend and Screwtape seems really annoyed that the nephew has not included this significant fact in his last letter.  In response to his annoyance he sends his nephew a booklet.  

Screwtape seems very disgusted by the patient's new girlfriend calling her a "brute" and states "she makes me want to vomit" why does Screwtape feel this way about the girlfriend?

When he talks about her house he speaks of it reeking and that anyone who visits smells horribly after they leave the house.  What is the smell suppose to symbolize?  

I also thought that it was very interesting that at the end of this letter he turns himself into a centipede...how that happened I am not quite sure though.  

Overall this was just a very jumbled and confusing letter.

Hopefully some of you can help me to better understand the deeper meaning!

Screwtape Letters (Letter 21)

The most important subject that Screwtape discusses at the end of this letter is "the sense of ownership" (page 113).  He says that "humans are always putting up claims to ownership".  We all see this in our everyday world and we all mutter a sentence or ten every day that includes a possessive connotation.  In reality we do not own anything, but it all belongs to God or Satan.  Screwtape brings this point up by saying that the ownership that humans put on objects "sound equally funny in Heaven and in Hell".  Although we each have our "own" possessions here on earth, the reality is that once we get to heaven none of those possessions actually matter anymore.  Our actions here on earth are what will matter once we leave our bodies to live in heaven, so our obsession with possessions here on earth is comical in heaven and hell.  

I also thought it was interesting that he brought this sense of owning our time.  Often in our daily lives we are interrupted by different people and activities and can react in different ways.  Some people choose to graciously accept these interruptions as a way of charity, but other times people choose to get angry, because they feel like "their" time is taken from them.  The second response is how Screwtape tells his nephew to help his patient feel. "Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours".   

How do you feel about claiming possessions and claiming the day as "yours"? Does it actually get us anywhere in the long run, or is it just a way to get us ahead in the modern world?

I am anxious to hear your thoughts!

Screwtape Letters (Letter 17)

The first thing that came to mind after I finished reading the first sentence of this letter is that Screwtape always starts his letters off by telling his nephew that what he is doing is not good enough. Letter after Letter begins with Screwtape scolding the nephew and telling him that he never can do anything right. I feel as though this is how Satan treats us. He tells us that we need to do something, but we can never be good enough for him (but why would we want to be?). The only trouble occurs when we think that we are following God, but indeed are following Satan and become misled and bring ourselves down for never living up to God's expectations when they actually might be Satan's.
I thought that this letter was very interesting the way that it talked about the Mother's glutony in her determination to get what she wants. Instead of working for what she wants and being satifisfied with her result, there is always something more that she can never attain. This unattainable goal that is always there creates "daily dissapontment" and produces an ill temper. Does anyone know anyone who lives their lives like this?
One last part of the letter that I though was interesting was on page 90 "What begins as vanity can then be gradually turned into habit". I think that this is very true in our world today for some people. They begin by simply acting vain, but after this action become a daily routine, it is habit and then they do not know how to stop. This vanity turns people away from them and away from what that person may represent. Has anyone ever experienced this type of behavior from someone and how did it make you feel?

Screwtape Letters (Letter 15)

The theme that stuck out the most in this letter was the idea of trying to get the patients to live in the future instead of living through the eternal or present.  He talks about how the future bring up feelings of "fear, avarice, lust and ambition". It goes on to talk about how those feelings are sinful and bring a person farther way from God and closer to him. 

  

While thinking about this I realized why many college students may be drawn away from God.  Maybe so many college students are drawn away from God during their years at school aside from the lack of discipline of their parents, they are living and planning for the future.  I know personally I am planning for the future and wishing almost everyday that I was just done with school and out in the real world doing what I plan on. Does anyone else catch themselves planning and longing for the future? I frequently have feelings of both fear and ambition for the future, but I do not feel as though it is pulling me away from God, does anyone feel like their hopes for the future are pulling them away from God?

What did anyone else think about his message in this letter?

Screwtape Letters (Letter 9)

It is interesting that he starts off by saying that in this dull place that the patient is in does not guarantee that he will easily give away his soul.  This stuck out to me, because in my life I feel like many people believe that when you are at those low places it is easier to slip into Satan’s hands, when in fact he himself says that his work is not done yet, exploitation of the soul must be done first. Does anyone else feel like they were lead to believe this also?

When talking about pleasure it is interesting the contrasts he makes.  He talks about how any pleasure in a healthy, normal and satisfying form is in turn on the Enemies ground, trying to step on feet.  These types of pleasures are God’s inventions and he makes them.  The job of Satan is to encourage these pleasures to go beyond what God had intended and use them in ways that God has forbidden.  By stepping into the enemies territory Satan is able to overrule God and in turn have more power than He does. 

At the end of the segment he talks about how moderation in all things is good.  He especially points out that a moderate religion is a good thing, because it is easier to sway a person away from a moderate religion than from a strong religion.  The moderate religion idea is more abundant in our society today and therefore is easier for Satan to get control over more people.  Do you think that in today’s society more people are being called to Satan, because of our moderate religious values?

 

Screwtape Letters (Letter 4)

This section was a lot easier to read, having the background from our discussion in class this week.  All of the anti-Christian ideas were easier to understand.  It is interesting how the 4^th letter begins.  The uncle is talking about how he needs to fully inform Wormwood about the “painful subject of prayer”.  The adjective painful is not how Christians normally would describe their main way of talking to God, because praying brings Christians closer to God this is a painful action to Satan, because it pulls people away from him.  He instructs Wormwood to not just stop the patient from praying, but to the person from even thinking about praying.  This is good advice for the Uncle to give, because if the thought is not in the head there is no doubt or intention to do it later.  

I also thought this was interesting “It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out” (pg. 16).  This is a very interesting idea, what are your opinions on this subject?  Another interesting idea that is found in this letter is the idea of turning their attention away from God and toward themselves.  By doing this we take away the selflessness the God wants us to have and become a self-centered person, only thinking about ourselves and not doing Gods work.  What were your opinions on this idea of turning the attention away from God and towards themselves?

Just an aside, while I was reading this I could not help but wonder how hard it would be to write this book.  I feel like I was raised to live by God’s word and could not imagine trying to come up with all of these ideas that C.S. Lewis has.  Did anyone else think about this?