Letters

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Have you ever read something and thought to yourself, “Wow, I really relate to that!” Well, if you have, then you know what ever paragraph of The Screwtape Letters was like for me. I don’t know how I got to adulthood without reading it, but somehow I managed to get here. It’s been on my list, but I’ll admit, I judged a book by its cover. Er, title. The Screwtape Letters isn’t the most inviting title, and the thought of reading a devil’s thoughts was largely unappealing. And now I’m slapping myself for not having read this sooner. Bad Echo!

Basically, The Screwtape Letters is a collection of letters from Screwtape, a senior devil in Satan’s kingdom, to his nephew, Wormwood, a newly-trained devil, who is working on his first “patient.” As I read each letter and saw the advise that Screwtape provides for Wormwood, along with accompanying explanation of why that particular tactic works, I was aghast at how many of the vices they were discussing I deal with. Now, I like to think I’m a pretty good person. I go to church, I try to be charitable, I try to be patient and serve others, but man, Screwtape illuminates why someone who does these things (just like me) can really be quite the ideal patient for someone like Wormwood, because it’s so easy to make us think we’re still being so dang good.

This book goes through family relations, work, feelings for coworkers, friends, war and peace, love and sex, and many of the other things that we as humans deal with on a daily basis, but that can be twisted from a good thing into a soul-damning thing if approached in just the right way. As I read on, I felt such empathy for the patient and sincerely hoped he would make it out the other end on top. He does, which gave me hope that we can all make it if we pay attention and do what we know is right rather than what seems almost right. It was hard for the patient, as it is for us, but he made it.

It may sound campy or clichéd, but trust me, this book will show you things that are so obvious but that you’ve never seen. It is a book that needs to be sipped rather than gulped, but it’s so worth reading. I wholeheartedly recommend The Screwtape Letters, with my only regret being that I didn’t read it sooner!