My Dear Screwtape,
I’m really just writing this to say thank you. Your letters to Wormwood were hard to read, but they taught me a lot—a lot about myself, a lot about my faith, and a lot about the spiritual war taking place all around me.
One thing you revealed to me is that I don’t question enough. I take what I see and hear at face value without really checking to see if I really believe it (or should believe it). Thank you for helping me realize that your Father Below is working pretty hard to twist the truth and make me believe his misrepresentations.
I learned about family relationships, and how your Father Below manipulates us and pits us against each other in order to tear us away from each other and my Father Above.
I also learned about prayer in my own spiritual life. Many of the points you made to Wormwood about the “patient” are true of me as well. I didn’t think about the bodily position making a difference in my prayers. I don’t know exactly how to pray for other people, even though that’s probably what I do more than anything else in my prayer life. I put it off and make plans to pray later when that’s your Father Below’s strongest tactic—procrastination.
Your letters helped me recognize and reevaluate my reluctance to think about my Father Above. Is it because I feel guilty about His faithfulness in my life when I am so unfaithful to Him? Is it because I don’t understand Him or His ways, so my thoughts roll around questions that I cannot find the answer to? I’m still working through these questions and many others in my spiritual life, but I have you to thank for opening up my eyes to this issue.
I already recognized the issue of cliques in the church, but I did not realize it has been going on for so long. Your letters to Wormwood helped me see that we have been dealing with this problem for way too long! The church should be the most welcoming environment to all people, not a clique that others have to sweet talk their way into. I think it helps for us to know how long this has been going on. The problem is that we have to get all Christians on board to fix it, not just a few here or there. But I suppose that is our problem, not yours.
Finally, you taught me about humility, or at least improved my understanding of it. I oftentimes try to be humble by turning down compliments or telling myself not to get too excited when I do something well. In reality, as you mentioned in a letter to Wormwood, humility as My Father Above desires is simply for us to come to a mindset that is without bias. For example, if I build something great, His desire is for me to rejoice in that as much (no more and no less) than I would rejoice in it if my best friend or sister or enemy had built that same something great. I do not need to put myself down in order to be humble.
All in all, Screwtape, your letters truly benefitted my spiritual life. For that I am extremely grateful. So thank you!
Affectionately not yours,
Sara
