Letter #15
Main Theme: Hope
Background: With the end of the war in sight, the patient is gaining a hope and happiness of better times ahead.  Screwtape is explaining the difference between a hope in the eternal and a hope in the future.

Your man may be untroubled about the Future, not because he is concerned with the Present, but because he has persuaded himself that the Future is going to be agreeable.  As long as that is the real cause of his tranquillity, his tranquillity will do us good, because it is only piling up more disappointment, and therefore more impatience, for him when his false hopes are dashed.

Okay, this whole chapter...wow.  I don't think anything could have been more relevant to my current circumstances than what is in this letter.  At first, reading this was a depressing realization, but then I was convicted to evaluate in what I put my hope.

As a student (whether in high school or college), I was constantly reassured with the hope of easier times by finishing a paper or project, or getting past a certain day (when something was due, or a big test was scheduled).  Never ending promises were always made to myself that "if only" or "when this is done" then I'd be more relaxed or have more free time.  But once one task is done, another starts up.  There is no end to that which must be done, but we dislike doing.  Even once school was done, new obstacles arise. Two words: bills and taxes. (What is the "American Dream"?  I think I lost it as soon as I found it.)

That is the depressing part.  But then I realized how much of an idiot I am.  I was spending my time dwelling on the temporal, the material--the meaningless:

In a word, the Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity.  It is the most completely temporal part of time...

In the above quote, Screwtape explains to Wormwood if man's hopes and treasure can be stored in the earthly whelm of what lies ahead, then it will be much easier to crush the man's spirit through the constant disappointment of life not getting easier.  Our hope does not lie within the things or pleasures of this world, but in the eternal.  The Future and the Eternal are two different things: the future eventually becomes the present, then turns into the past.  However, the eternal becomes the present and stays the present forever.  Life as we know it will some day be over--in the past--then starts eternity.  True hope, which in turn reflects in our actions, is set in the eternal, or what lies after death.  Is that hope in the assurance of life in Heaven received through faith in Christ? (Job 8:12-13, Proverbs 11:7, Romans 5:2, 1 Peter 3:15, Hebrews 7:18-19)

Through all the years of doing schoolwork and--now--working at a job I dislike, I put up with it for the hope finishing those tasks and moving on to something I do like.  However the real motive should not be something as fleeting as having a little extra time or to make money to live comfortably, but to work through each situation with the mindset of using the present to be a witness for Christ and bring glory to God.

There are very few things in nature that are as beautiful as a Kansas winter sunrise.  We have an awesome Creator.

Letter #13
Main Theme: Losing self to find self.
Background: Despite Wormwood's efforts and success to draw the patient into an illusive glamorous life, he slips into allowing the man to enjoy a couple of pasttimes which can send a person back into reality.

When He talks of their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever.

Do you like the main theme?  Yeah, to a non-church person, that would be confusing.  However, to any person who speaks fluent Christianese, it makes complete sense...sometimes.

The last...oh...three years have been a journey for me.  Of course there was finishing up college, moving back home and getting involved with church, finding a job, moving out on my own... But beginning just over three years ago--and continuing even to just this past year--the most uncertain and doubtful I have ever felt has come from evaluating where I am, what I'm doing, and what I think God wants me to do.

So here's the catch: as far back as I can remember, I've always thought about the future and tried to have everything planned out.  For several years I wanted to be a school bus driver, then a teacher, a meteorologist, architect, biochemist, science teacher.  Before finishing my junior year of high school, I had it planned that I would go to KU, major in biochemistry, go to graduate school on one of the coasts, and probably never return to live in my home city.  Well, I'm one for four.  I had no clue (and I'm still amazed by how everything changed) that I would end up at a small private college in-the-middle-of-nowhere Kansas, and then return home after graduating.  Going to a big school and getting an education was my ticket out of Kansas!  What happened?!

November 10th, 2001.

I was accepted to participate in the local university's Distinguished Scholarship Invitational.  About a thousand high school seniors came to the campus for a whole day and shuffled through activities such as debates, individual interviews, group interviews, and testing all while being watched and judged for leadership potential.  My last event of the day was the group interview.  There were about 10 of us students sitting in a half circle with our desks, and one of the professors at the front of the room asking us questions.  With this next part only those people in the room know about: I cried.  It wasn't because I was nervous or scared or whatever, but I was overcome with this joyful, passionate emotion.  So, I cried.  I had spent the whole day trying to give the "right" answers to impress and intrigue others.  But I finally broke when asked the question: "who would you most like to be like, and why?"  I was either last or next to last to answer.  Everybody else mentioned a family member or some kind of political or social leader.  When all eyes turned to me, all pre-thought answers left my head and I could only answer "Jesus."

So, how does one become like Jesus?  Do we follow a strict list of rules and laws?  No, even though sometimes it seems that way.  But what we do is not because some words tell us to, but because it is the Spirit working within us (Romans 7:6).  Do we completely separate ourselves from all people worldly? No, how else are we to minister to them (see my comments on Letter #10)?  Are we to let  people walk all over us so as not to offend anybody?  No.  I'm not going to expand on this because I can't think of any scripture off the top of my head (can anybody provide some?).  So, how are we to become like Jesus?  I don't know.  I DON'T KNOW.  Sheesh, okay?  But I do know that the best place to start is by realizing that I am not in control.

For me--at least--if I truly want to die to self (as the saying goes), then I need to give up that control to God.  The funny thing is that I never really had control in the first place.  When I eventually let go of my dreams of becoming a famous biochemist, God led me straight to where he wanted me to be: a small Bible-teaching college where I was able to meet incredible people and learn more about Him.  Three years ago, when I was fretting that my chosen major wouldn't get me a job post-graduation, God led me to education and developing a passion to working with youth.  A year and a half ago, when I was nearing the end of student teaching, but knew that I absolutely hated working in schools, God led me to working in a lab which freed up my sanity for volunteering with the church youth group.  Then two months ago, when I hated my job and desperately wanted to go into full-time youth ministry, God led me to a national youth leader conference where I learned that I have it good.  Believing that I had control of my own life, but then when things started going wrong, I was left feeling like a failure--lost and depressed.  Realizing that God is in control, and He has a plan for me that will be revealed over time allows me to live life to the fullest right now. <--Note the bolding.

You know, I'm just going to leave it at that.  Wait, let me answer the question first.  How do we become like Jesus?  By letting God lead.  There, that's my conclusion.

"Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." Luke 17:33

Letter #11
Main Theme: Potential misuses of humor.
Background: Screwtape writes to Wormwood about the human's new friends.  Apparently, they pride themselves in their sarcastic nature and in causing laughter from any situation or subject.

[Flippancy] is a thousand miles away from joy: it deadens, instead of sharpening, the intellect; and it excites no affection between those who practise it.

Main Entry: flip·pan·cy
Pronunciation: 'fli-p&n(t)-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -cies
: unbecoming levity or pertness especially in respect to grave or sacred matters
(www.m-w.com)

"'See here, Dumbledore,' said Fudge, and Harry was astonished to see a slight smile dawning on his face, '"you--you can't seriously believe that.  You-Know-Who--back?  Come now, come now...certainly, Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders--but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore...'" (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

Anybody who has read the Harry Potter books knows how this quote finally shows Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, as being one of the biggest fools throughout the series.  Here the most dangerous and powerful wizard, Lord Voldemort, has finally been able to regain a body, and thus his powers, to continue his reign of killing innocent people.  However, Fudge refuses to believe it--he refuses to acknowledge the truth, as horrible as it is, and hopes for it all to go away.  Fudge tries to hide the reality by laughing it away.

Okay, so the quote from Harry Potter goes along with the dictionay definition, but how does it relate to Screwtape's writings?

How often have you, or has someone else, thought lightly of a matter important to someone else?  Perhaps there was a bad test score, and instead of trying to improve in that subject, a person might sigh and say, "oh, well."  Or how about a group of friends are out late one night.  One friend has a curfew before the others, but the others convince him that an extra hour out won't hurt.  In each example, the flippant response towards hard work and rules lightens the mood for a while, but what happens afterwards?  The bad scores keep piling up until there's little hope of passing the class.  The friend who broke his curfew gets in trouble, possibly feeling a little resentful towards his peers (and probably the parents, though they don't deserve it).

How about another situation that we too often dismiss: salvation.  As Christians, we hide from the fact that there are unsaved people around us who are doomed to Hell.  For whatever reason, they do not know or believe that salvation comes only through our Lord Jesus Christ.  What do we do about it?  Nothing.  What should we do about it?  Everything--everything and anything it takes to share the Good News with others (Matthew 28:16-20).

Humor is good.  It helps alleviate some burderns, but it should never relieve the burdens.  Pretending something does not exist, does not cause it to be so.  Instead of dismissing a problem because it is too big for you to handle, remember it is not you alone who must deal with it.

By the way, when I write about something, it is directed towards myself as well as anybody reading this.

~Mme. Darcy