On to Letter 3......

Letter 3 is a study in ignoring the obvious sin in ourselves, while pretending to be pious. This pious attitude of course brings on judgement and can wreak havoc in the lives of our families and friends. How many times have I done this myself? The answer is too many to count~just ask my husband.

In this letter, Screwtape advises Wormwood to have his patient concentrate on "higher" spiritual activities and study. This study may lead to a bit of arrogance in the patient. One of the key phrases in this letter is when Screwtape recommends, "Aggravating that most useful human characteristic, the horror and neglect of the obvious." p12. Here is a wonderful note concerning this concept that I found on an anabaptist conference web site:

A Word from Dorothy
The horror and neglect of the obvious
One of my favorite "old" books is THE
SCREWTAPE LETTERS by C.S. Lewis, first published
in 1942. In it is this encouragement from the senior
devil to his apprentice devil: "...Keep his mind off the
most elementary duties by directing it to the most
advanced and spiritual ones. Aggravate the most useful
human characteristic, the horror and neglect of the
obvious...." (pp 20-21)
During the seasons of Advent, Christmas and
Epiphany, we prepare, we celebrate, we share. We are a
people who wait, who receive, who hope. This
important Christian season is also an important spiritual
discipline.
Yet, during this season, we sometimes neglect
the obvious. We scurry around, rushed and bedraggled.
We are pummeled by advertisements about objects and
things that would make us happy--or so they say. We
are harassed by ever more activities, ever more foods,
ever more events. So I wonder, what is the point? What
season is this anyway?
The devil's advice comes screaming at us--
"neglect the obvious". How do we, as Christians,
neglect the obvious? We neglect the children among us
who are lonely, have special needs, or are caught with
chronic illness. We neglect the youth among us who are
either very talented or very marginalized. We neglect
the neighbor who just lost a spouse or our fellow church
member whose diagnosis of cancer is a startling change
of life. We neglect the homeless who walk our streets.
We neglect the senior adult who has no visitors. We
neglect our own congregations who ask for leaders and
volunteers. We neglect ourselves and our spiritual
disciplines.

And so I thought our seasonal prayer might go
like this:
God of miracles and of new life,
we pray for the gift of vision.
Help us to see your world with compassion and love,
not hate and competition.
Inspire us to seek justice and love mercy.
Open our eyes to the obvious.
Take away our neglectful natures.
Give us patience in our waiting for your Son to bring
life to all. Amen.
----Dorothy Nickel Friesen

I think the message of this letter and what the enemy would like us to focus on is the scholarly side of Christianity. He would like us to be oblivious to the needs of those around us, either by being so self centered. We can even do this as Christians by focusing on lofty goals instead of the basic needs of those around us.

As for possible questions I hope my student that is the discussion director will ask:
What 4 ways is Screwtape suggesting Wormwood use to distract the patient?
1. Keep his mind on his inner life.
2. Keeps his prayers focused on spiritual needs, not actual basic life needs of others.
3. Have the patient focus on the traits of his mother that irritate him the most.
4. Have him read additional meaning into her words and tone.
What evidence do we have from this letter that the devils work together as a group?

As for the connector, I hope they might make some of the following connections:
What should we focus on in our lives?
What is more important, studying scripture or acting on it?
How can we prevent arrogance?

The literary Luminary might focus on the passage focused on above: the horror and neglect of the obvious.