Well, I have to say that this is an interesting and mind-rattling kind of experience. I'm used to reading the Bible and writing lessons which are generously filled with God's goodness, mercy, kindness and love. Exhorting others to see this fact is a goal that keeps me involved with the project. But having recently found a dramatic recording of The Screwtape Letters, I'm seeing how it has affected my mind with a jarring interruption of daily thinking. In a way, it isn't surprising, but in another way I find it more energizing than I expected. Maybe that's because we fall into a trap of sorts--not thinking of Satan's constant barrage of tactics to get us to be something other than God wants us to be. How easily we fall into traps is a frustrating and frightening thought, but we must recognize that without some effort on our part to keep our hearts and minds in the right and righteous place, it won't happen. I encourage you to find a time each day to fill your mind with God's word. And I'm going to give you another passage from The Screwtape Letters--partly because I am not taking the time to write pieces for my blog right now, but mainly because I want to share it with you for your contemplation.
Aging: Middle Age
Senior devil Screwtape to junior devil Wormwood:
The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather. You see, it is so hard for these creatures to perservere. The routine of adversity, the gradual decay of youthful loves and youthful hopes, the quiet despair (hardly felt as pain) of ever overcoming the chronic temptations with which we have again and again defeated them, the drabness which we create in their lives, and the inarticulate resentment with which we teach them to respond to it--all this provides admirable opportunities of wearing out a soul by attrition. If, on the other hand, the middle years prove prosperous, our position is even stronger. Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is "finding his place in it," while really it is finding its place in him. His increasing reputation, his widening circle of acquaintances, his sense of importance, the growing pressure of absorbing and agreeable work, build up in him a sense of being really at home on Earth, which is just what we want. You will notice that the young are generally less unwilling to die than the middle-aged and the old.
I hadn't realized that I stumbled on the recording of The Screwtape Letters so early after it came out. I ordered my set from Christianbook.com, a company I trust. It has been many years since I paid much attention to C. S. Lewis, but he has always kept a place in my heart. I also ordered Mere Christianity and The Four Loves, which is read by C. S. Lewis himself. Hearing his words again is a wonderful and deepening experience that I hope you'll share. Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Blessings...Mimi
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