[Vol. 2 Issue #2]

Tuesday

A story that started with the term "Contented Worldliness" haunted me most of the day. Several recent events have brought me face to face with reality and mortality, making writing past it difficult. Highlights will return today for a brief dive into understanding how an enemy grows in peace and contracts during war mortality.

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Watching the War

After 30+ years of reading actual books, I have a small collection of paper books these days. I have a library full of books on all my devices, but a few physical books that never made it to the recycling or donation bin. Most are classics, and I like to read a chapter or section from several of these books daily. Today is an excerpt from a C.S. Lewis book called The Screwtape Letters. Here's the excerpt:

Similar to the poetry spotlights yesterday, this section of a novel written as a conversation between a senior demon (Screwtape) and his younger nephew (Wormwood) identifies the strength our complacency can have when an enemy can make you believe there is nothing more important than the self.

In this demon discussion, Screwtape reminds the young Wormwood how disastrous war can be for recruiting us into hell. In war, a person may face mortality daily; that existential face slap will put your life into a real perspective. Nothing shakes the shine off your contented worldliness or complacency towards your life like the reality of death.

War is hell, except for the people who choose to serve and protect others from the evils of war. There is courage and wisdom in a person willing to lose their life to protect others. Screwtape isn't looking to recruit the fighters, responders, the brave – he knows they see a deeper meaning in this life. No Screwtape wants the rest of us sitting on our thrown-of rage, sleeping with our soft, warm blankets of contentedness. Be conscious, be curious, and think for yourself.