Screwtape Letters Chapters 28-31

I enjoyed Letter 28 a lot. I liked a lot of the quotes; one of my favorite being from page 155. “Prosperity knits a man to this World. He feels that he is ‘finding his place in it’, while really it is finding its place in him.”. This was in regards to what keeps the youth less willing to die than the elders. I thought his idea of the World not being ours, but us living in the World was interesting.
A portion of the letter I really liked is when Screwtape talked about how time is very valuable. He says on page 157, “How valuable time is to us may be gauged by the fact that the Enemy allows us so little of it.”. I think some people value the time we have more than others do, and agree with Screwtape that the less time the ‘Enemy’ gives us the less time he has to change them. I suppose this is true in real life because the longer you live the more opportunities you have to mess up which is what Screwtape likes.
Can’t wait to finish the book!

Screwtape Letters Chapters 25-27

In this letter Screwtape focuses on the journey of marriage. He says that once 10 years comes along you begin to hate each other and just try to please each others wishes. I thought this was really sad looking at society today where it is said that about 50% or more marriages will end in divorce. A quote I really liked is on page 142, “A woman means by Unselfishness chiefly taking troubles for others; a man means not giving trouble to others”. I usually don’t like some of the things Screwtapes says but I actually liked the way he put that because I think it is true in a way. Another point Screwtape had was about being honest from the beginning then there wouldn’t be this issue; instead people try to fight the others’ battle for them. Strangely enough I really liked what Screwtape had to say in this letter. I don’t think the hatred can be blamed all on selfishness, but of course I think every relationship has to find some median in giving and taking. Lastly, I really like this quote off of page 145, “… ‘Love’ is not enough, that charity is needed”. Yay for love!

Screwtape Letters Chapters 22-24

I found these few letters to be very comical. I loved how there was finally a turning point of who was in the lead with the Patient. I believe "The Enemy" was winning again because he had a woman helping him out. I found it interesting that Wormwood would keep the relationship a secret from his uncle who was there to help himm. It was very funny how hard Screwtape tried to bring down the woman. He thought of anything and everything bad about her. I think what he hated and feared most was that she was a devout Christian which is the worst kind of woman. I’m glad that there is this challenge for Screwtape because this could be a breaking point for “The Enemy” to win the patient over for good. I'm very curious to find out what Screwtape will try and to do ruin the relationship and have the Patient back.

Screwtape Letters Chapters 19-21

I was really entertained with chapter 20. Screwtape’s focus is to find a wife so that he could be unchaste. He goes on to say on page 105, ‘… I would like to give you some hint about the type of woman – I mean physical type – which he should be encouraged…’. Screwtape wants Wormwood to find a woman by looks rather than who she is (ughs men!). He did have one comment that I found funny because with some people in society today it is the same. On page 107 he said ‘… the figures in the popular art are falsely drawn; the real women in bathing suits or tights are actually pinched in and propped up to make them appear firmer and more slender and more boyish than nature allows a full-grown woman to be’. I agree that people being brushed in and not being real makes it more difficult to find these sorts of women. I didn’t understand the purpose of the ending when he talked about the two imaginary women in a man’s mind, but I think he’s trying to say something about if he is a Christian and he loves the infernal Venus they could marry. Not too sure, but looking forward to reading what other people have to say about this.

Screwtape Letters Chapters 16-18

So I really enjoyed letter 18. It dealt with love, sex, marriage and children. One quote that I liked that is on page 95, “The Enemy described a married couple as ‘one flesh’. He did not say ‘a happily married couple’ or ‘a couple who married because they were in love’.” I believe if a couple is ‘one flesh’ then they are happy and in love. Ha it aggravates me how much Screwtape contradicts everything all the time. Another section I liked was on page 94 about how, “’To be’ means ‘to be in competition’”. That whole paragraph was really good about how one self is not another self. Can’t wait to read on!

Skrewtape Letters Chapters 12-15

Chapter 15 was my favorite letter this time. It focuses on the Past, Present and Future. Skrewtape believes that we must “get them away from the eternal, and from the Present” from page 76. The Past has some value to them, but believes that the Future holds “fear, avarice, lust, and ambition” from page 76, all of which are characteristics that the Enemy does not favor. He goes on to say that the Enemy wants us to thing about the Future, but more so in thinking of their duty tomorrow.
I thought about this in my own life and felt a connection to the letter because I’m in a phase in my life that I’m looking forward to the future. Although I don’t necessarily believe everything Skewtape is saying because the characteristics he told about the Future can be seen in the Present sometimes too, which makes me feel a little better about myself. I think it’s good to prepare for the Future but to also live in the Present. One quote I liked that he stated was “the duty of planning the morrow’s work is today’s duty; though its material is borrowed form the Future, the duty, like all duties, is in the Present” on page 77. I guess I liked the way he put that because I am living in the Present but just using the Future to decide what to do tomorrow.

Skrewtape Letters Chapters 8-11

These letters seemed a little more difficult to follow for me. I ended up like Chapter 9 the most though. It seemed like C.S. Lewis was talking about these temporary pleasures we seek when we are down; sex, drugs, alcohol. I really like when he said, "All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures..." on page 44. It's something to think about, these obstacles that He put here that we fall to when we our suffering from being down. It seems like the Devil gets excited when we fall into these pleasures because they are of wrong doing. God didn't inted sex to be random and not meaningful. Thus when we do have meaningless sex with many partners it's against what God meant.
"The mere word phase will very likely do the trick" on page 46 is another quote I found interesting. I liked that because we do go through phases. I understand that we go in and out of phases, but I don't believe it will as easy as he thinks it will to get them out of their religious phase for good.
Well I'm excited to see what else C.S. Lewis has to say!