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?
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5 comments:
I agree completely with everything you wrote. We do have a problem with gluttony as a culture. Along with this vanity is an issue that does go hand in hand. People no longer really notice that they are being vain they just are all the time.
Your point about Satan always making us believe that we are never good enough was really interesting. I feel like this is true, as the Bible continually builds the point that God accepts us for who we are, as long as we have genuine faith and we believe. In other words, if we believe, then we ARE good enough in God's eyes. But on the other side of things, the Devil makes us try and believe in the opposite of what God has to say, and so continually tries to trick us by making us believe that we have to be better or that we are missing something and that God will never love us.
I honestly never thought about the way the letters start before but the scolding to start is definitely a great approach. I doubt I'm alone in liking to prove people wrong, to take what they say I can't do and prove them wrong. A nice twist for Screwtape to use is to twist the reality such that one is proving to the wrong person that they can do the wrong thing, which probably isn't hard in the first place. It's definitely nice to see someone work extra hard for something you believe in, and Screwtape definitely likes competitive fire power.
So I really liked your point of how Screwtape brings down his nephew in the begining of every letter, I never thought much of it until you had said that. The idea of the nephew not doing something right makes me think of how God accepts us if we try to believe. I think you need to try to work hard for something you believe in, but Screwtape makes it too big of a deal. Really good post!
Corianna,
I laughed when I read your blog this week because before reading any of them, I wrote out my response, and we still ended up picking out the exact quote from the book!! hah :) (great minds think alike!) I do like your insight on this chapter and what you said made it even more clear to me what screwtape was really trying to get across. I liked how you also talked about daily disappointments and nothing is ever good enough for some people. I agree and think that many people strive and push themselves trying to obtain that complete control, but it's something that will never exist. Know yourself, and know what you deserve, and that's all you can trully ask for.
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