My
dear Wormwood,
…The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them to
eternity. He therefore wants them to attend chiefly to two things,
to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the
Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches
eternity.
…Our business is to get them away from the eternal, and
from the Present….It is far better to make them live in the Future.
Biological necessity makes all their passions point in that
direction already, so that thought about the Future inflames hope
and fear.
…The Enemy’s ideal is a man who, having worked all day
for the good of posterity, washes his mind of the whole subject,
commits the issue to Heaven, and returns at once to the patience or
gratitude demanded by the moment that is passing over him…..
Your affectionate uncle,
Screwtape
-C. S. Lewis in Screwtape Letters
"Vanity of vanities," said the Preacher. I'm often tempted to
cast my thoughts toward the future, vainly looking for the day when
things that I'm excited about will take place. But by the time
they do take place, I'm already looking forward to something else.
It's like the story of the boy who received a golden ball of string
that he could unwind if there was something in his life he wished to
skip. First he only passed over a couple days of school.
But then he skipped ahead to being grown up. Gradually he
found more and more that he wanted to skip until one day he reached
the end of the ball and his life was over. As the Preacher
says, "All is vanity."
But what did the Preacher conclude? "I know that nothing is
better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and
also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all
his labor--it is the gift of God." (Ecc. 3:12) There's
more to the journey than just the destination. That quote
above from C. S. Lewis was a good reminder to do what God requires
of me now and to enjoy His good gifts now. Rather than looking
forward to the day when Joshua can walk and talk, I'm trying to
enjoy every day I have with him now. Because the day will come
sooner than I think when I will look back and wonder how he grew up
so fast.
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgement, including every secret thing, whether good or evil." (Ecc. 12:13-14)
On this page you can read about how we try to take joy in the journey.
Through news and updates and my moments in meditations, you can get
a feel for life in our home. You will also find links to other
websites and next to those are the archives, some stories that I've
written over the years, and links to my book reviews. (To find
the book reviews, scroll down below the item details to the
"customer review" section.) Thanks for being curious enough to
stop by and we'll all hope that in this case curiosity will not be
deadly! |
