Sara Bailey
The Screwtape Letters: An Internal Reflective Paper
C. S. Lewis awakens penetrating insight into human nature and the carnal man, introducing the idea that each of us is a “patient” with a personal devil determined to lead us outside the light and into our happiness of captivity.
Being a carnal [wo]man, of devious nature at times, these passages spoke to the interweaving of my heart and loosened the bonds holding my spirit captive by inner thoughts that my own “personal devil” had previously plagued me. Being a “patient” of the devils, will no longer be a choice that I make.
Just how God works with his angels to spread goodness and hope into lives of his children, Satan and his “children” work even harder to interrupt that. At times I have let thoughts placed by the devil interfere with the pure peace that comes from trusting the Lord. If I would have grasped onto his angels and been an obedient child, I would have been in a position to receive His promises and blessings.
“In every department of life it makes the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing.” (1) For a long time I would dream about change; about having what I always wanted to have, but could not afford to have because I had spent my change on things of no worth. In my labors, I “saved my pennies” and was able to save up enough to start collecting the things that were of the most importance to me. No longer did I listen to the carnal [wo]man telling me, “get this, save later.” – I grasped onto the opposite and was given wings that allowed me to fly.
“Keep [his] mind off the most elementary duties by directing it to the most advanced and spiritual ones”. (2) I feel that this passage is most applicable to me when I don’t do the small things: Reading scriptures, praying, paying tithe, doing-good unto fellow men. When I don’t focus on the small and simple things, which is the foundation, then when I decide that I want to have the advanced and most spiritual gifts, I can no longer reach them, due to the fact that my ladder falls though the cracked foundation I had created.
“When you have caused him to assume that the tough is permanent, can you not persuade him that ‘his religious phase’ is just going to die away like all his previous phases?” (3)
