Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Something from C. S. Lewis

The following is from The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.  It is a novel about a demon (Uncle Screwtape) who writes letters of advice to his nephew, Wormwood, so that Wormwood might lead people astray.  It is written from the viewpoint of hell, so that "Our Father" means Satan and the "Enemy" means Jesus.

This regards how each of us thinks of everything we have as "Mine"--our time, our possessions, our jobs, our homes, our families, our bodies, and even our souls.  It is a chilling reminder that we are not independent beings who have complete freedom from everyone and everything (and this is quite an un-American thought).  Everyone has someone or something which is his God and Lord.  We do well to be sure that we do not have the wrong God and Lord.

“In the long run either Our Father or the Enemy will say “Mine” of each thing that exists, and specially of each man.  They will find out in the end, never fear, to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong—certainly not to them, whatever happens.  At present the Enemy says “Mine” of everything on the pedantic, legalistic ground that He made it: Our Father hopes in the end to say “Mine” of all things on the more realistic and dynamic ground of conquest.” (The Screwtape Letters, Letter 21)

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