31 March 2010

Uncle Screwtape

I have turned to an old worn copy of "The Screwtape Letters" about every ten years. I am reading it now. There is a passage that never caught my attention in my thirties or forties. The senior temptor, Screwtape, opines on the weight of aging and prosperity on the demonic quest for souls....

"Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is "finding his place in it, " while really it is finding its place in him. His increasing reputation, his widening circle of acquaintances, his sense of importance, the growing pressure of absorbing and agreeable work, build up in him a sense of being really at home on Earth, which is just what we want. You will notice that the young are generally less unwilling to die than the middle-aged and the old."

No comments:

Post a Comment