Screwtape

Screwtape. A reference to C.S. Lewis' *Screwtape Letters*:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Screwtape_Letters

Lewis was paid by the inch, as was Dickens, so I have tried to boil it down.

In short:

Here is a synopsis of the book:

Screwtape is a very senior devil. He is not Satan, but perhaps his prime minister.

His nephew, Wormwood, is trying to be a good little devil by corrupting the souls of men. But every time he tries to corrupt the souls of men he screws up and they go to heaven, not to hell.

So he writes his uncle for advice: "Dear Uncle Screwtape, where did I go wrong?"

Screwtape smacks his forehead and replies: "Oh, my Satan! How could you DO such a thing? HERE is how you corrupt the souls of men..."

He then proceeds to describe how to corrupt the souls of men:

You just toss marbles in their way. They slip and fall and hurt themselves, then lash out against all around them. He screams at the wife, she kicks the dog, the dog bites the cat, the cat scratches the child. And they all sit around in a miserable huddled mass...

Then Screwtape appears, with his arms folded, and they cry out to him: "Did you do this?"

"No", he replies. "I just provided the marbles. The REST was up to you."

So, when this happens to me, I recognize it and stop:

“Aha! A Screwtape moment!”

And recognize it for what it is, and refuse to allow it to proceed.

In any case, TBTG, I have learned that lesson, so whenever faced with sudden adversity, I stop, look around for Screwtape, and if too many blinking lights just go in a different direction. I've come to call these "Screwtape Moments"...