In college, one does not have very much (ha! rather, ANY) time to read for pleasure. But there are some books that demand to be read. The Screwtape Letters is one such work. After years of wanting to read it, I finally sat down a few weeks ago at my favorite place outside on campus (the garden at Mitchell Physics) and began to digest it. Halfway through,
I wish I had not delayed. Already, C.S. Lewis has pointed out several things
that have slapped me across the face with conviction: particularly our
infatuation as humans with possession.
For the past four years, I have been involved with a
philanthropic organization doing child sponsorship for children in the
Dominican Republic. My mission trips to the DR are stories for other times; but, needless to say, the people I met in those villages changed my life and commandeered
part of my heart. I love the people down there, and I cannot stand to see them lacking
daily necessities. So, when I heard of the child sponsorship program, I
immediately seized the opportunity. Several months later, I was able to meet
the girl I sponsored, Carolina, in person, which was absolutely incredible. I
cannot explain in words how full my heart was those days.
Afterwards – after seeing this incredible girl and putting a
face to whom I thought my sponsorship money was going – I learned the organization
had only sent a very irregular and, additionally, minuscule portion of the
money they accumulated monthly to the DR. I saw evidence on the trip, but I
wanted to believe the best. When I heard the details of the diversion of
funds, I was livid. Who did people think they were, assuming the sponsorship
money belonged to them? Like they possessed it? It was absolutely infuriating.
This money did not in any way belong to them. It belonged to God to be used to “to
look after orphans and widows in their distress.” Over the next few months, I couldn't stop thinking about this injustice. I was personally offended and
angry – and I do not see anything wrong with this righteous anger. That’s not the
point.
The point arrived when I read The Screwtape Letters. A high-ranking demon, Uncle Screwtape, is
instructing a younger demon, Wormwood, on the ins and outs of manipulating humanity. In Letter Twenty One, Screwtape explains to Wormwood the delicate task of
leading his subject away from “The Enemy” (God) using discrete and, frankly,
frightening methods. Screwtape's profound advice is,
"He regards his time as his own and
feels that it is being stolen. You must therefore zealously guard in his mind
the curious assumption ‘My time is my own’. Let him have the feeling he starts
each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours… The humans are always
putting up claims to ownership which sound equally funny in Heaven and in Hell
and we must keep them doing so… We have taught men to say ‘my God’ in a sense
not really very different from ‘my boots’, meaning ‘the God on whom I have a
claim for my distinguished services and whom I exploit from the pulpit – the God
I have done a corner in.’" (Lewis, C. S. The
Screwtape Letters. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001. Print.)
He continues with, “They will find out in the end, never
fear, to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong –
certainly not to them, whatever
happens.”
Dang.
In my obsession with the faults of the above organization, I
never considered how I hold unrelentingly to my possessions – particularly TIME.
When I thought of the embezzlement situation, I wanted to go after the organization
leaders and slap them across the heads with both the Bible and C.S. Lewis’s
book, and on behalf of the batey. But I am not free of fault.
My biggest issue with Christians is the flooding hypocrisy in
EVERYTHING. But, who am I to accuse other of duplicity when I too am failing? When
I accuse others of not being good stewards of God’s resources (in this case,
money), I must evaluate my own stewardship. I cannot condemn others of wasting physical
resources when I am simultaneously wasting my time.
A Convicting List of Specific Things I Think Belong to Me:
The ability to wake up in the morning
Time
Grades/academic success
Friends
My looks
Things That Actually Belong to Me:
Yeah… exactly.
As humans, we are empty vessels. Either we are
empty, or we are filled with the Holy Spirit. We own absolutely nothing. Each day, God wakes us up and
gives us a limited - yet overabundant - amount of resources. What we do with them is our choice. Most
notably is time. Time is not something we can hold or manipulate; it is a gift
given to us by God. It’s my responsibility to therefore use my time for His
glory and His fame, and if I don’t, then it’s my responsibility to shut up
about other people. Instead, I should lift them up in prayer, because there is nothing I can do to change or control that situation. God is the only who can change people's hearts.
That's the point.
Finally, if you have not read The Screwtape Letters, read it now over a cup of coffee or hot tea
and plenty of time to think. It's thought-provoking to say the least.
~~~
alicia//
