He wants men, so far as I can see, to ask very simple questions; is it righteous? is it prudent? is it possible? Now if we can keep men asking, "Is it in accordance with the general movement of our time? Is it progressive or reactionary? Is it the way that history is going?" they will neglect the relevant questions.
And the questions they do ask are, of course, unanswerable; for they do not know the future, and what the future will be depends very largely on just those choices which they now invoke the future to help them make. As a result, while their minds are buzzing in this vaccuum, we have a better chance to slip in and bend them to the action we have decided on.
This passage from the brilliant C.S. Lewis' novel The Screwtape Letters seemed a wonderfully fitting subject for my blog. Screwtape is a demon in hell, exchanging letters with his novice tempter nephew, Wormwood, who is on earth attempting to lead his first patient away from God ("the Enemy.") Screwtape's collection of letters read like a 'devil's secret playbook,' though Lewis has "no intention of explaining how the correspondence which I now offer to the public fell into my hands."
The world is noisy, erratic, complex and painful. Infinite absurdities beg our immediate attention. Dangerous forces flatter our intellects with complicated and unanswerable questions. Enlightenment lies in asking the very simple questions, the relevant questions--those foundational spiritual questions for which God provides simple, relevant answers. This blog is dedicated to the shedding of worldly complexities and the promotion of the infinitely relevant.
A question asked in the right way often points to its own answer.
--Edward Hodnett, American poet, 1841-1920
And the questions they do ask are, of course, unanswerable; for they do not know the future, and what the future will be depends very largely on just those choices which they now invoke the future to help them make. As a result, while their minds are buzzing in this vaccuum, we have a better chance to slip in and bend them to the action we have decided on.
This passage from the brilliant C.S. Lewis' novel The Screwtape Letters seemed a wonderfully fitting subject for my blog. Screwtape is a demon in hell, exchanging letters with his novice tempter nephew, Wormwood, who is on earth attempting to lead his first patient away from God ("the Enemy.") Screwtape's collection of letters read like a 'devil's secret playbook,' though Lewis has "no intention of explaining how the correspondence which I now offer to the public fell into my hands."
The world is noisy, erratic, complex and painful. Infinite absurdities beg our immediate attention. Dangerous forces flatter our intellects with complicated and unanswerable questions. Enlightenment lies in asking the very simple questions, the relevant questions--those foundational spiritual questions for which God provides simple, relevant answers. This blog is dedicated to the shedding of worldly complexities and the promotion of the infinitely relevant.
A question asked in the right way often points to its own answer.
--Edward Hodnett, American poet, 1841-1920
Comments
Post a Comment