I was given the immense privilege of seeing the performance
of “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S Lewis at the Paramount last night. To say it was legitimately life changing would sound dramatic, so I just won't say it. And I suppose I really won't know if it's indeed "life changing" until later down the road when I've actually had the time to take what was heard and learned and use it to make decisions different from those I would have made prior to the show.
On paper and considering all things, my current position of life is definitely that of being in a trough. Or as one of my previous blog posts allured to, at the bottom of the mountain. And though there are a million and one things I want to say about last night's performance, I shall spare you and speak to just this one, for now. ;) (But don't be fooled, I am reading the book for a second time and don't know if I will be able to resist sharing more down the road).
For those of you who haven't read the book, head to the bookstore now. The two main characters in the story, Screwtape (the Uncle and assistant to "Our Father Below") and his nephew Wormwood (a novice demon) portray human life from the vantage point of the enemy, as they set out to secure the damnation of a young man's soul (you and I).
About midway through the story, Screwtape sends a letter to Wormwood discussing how he must use the ups and downs of his patient's (the young man) life to yield his soul further and further from the Enemy (God).
"To decide what the best use of it is, you must ask what use the Enemy wants to make of it, and then do the opposite. Now it may surprise you to learn that in His efforts to get permanent possession of a soul, He relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else."
It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He (God) wants it to be. Hence, the praying offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best.
He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there, He is pleased even with their stumbles. Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round the universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."
Wow. I don't even think commentary is needed. Though I believe that my current life situation is seemingly more reflective of that in a trough than that on a peak, it's looking like I may have the better end of the deal anyway.
This was further evidenced in church today when my Pastor ever so coincidentally spoke on Psalm 62 and the ever changing blend of abundance and suffering in our lives. There are storms, but never storms without shelter. Now, there may be a gap between when I think the storm should end and when it actually does, but it's precisely that gap (waiting) that brings the greatest intimacy with Christ.
As I learn to discern and pluck out the voices of the Screwtapes and Wormwoods, I am thankful that God has currently seen me fit for a trough (or storm), as I am coming to find, understand, and some days simply choose this intimacy, as the greatest gift of all.
So as I stood on the bluffs this afternoon, and though overlooking an breathtaking view of the Puget Sound, every ounce of me was anxiously ready to start descending down the trail to the beach. For it was down there that I was able to pick up the shells, hunt for crabs, push on the clam holes and watch them spout up another ten feet away, and find shelter in the actual drift wood (I find God humorous). And though I didn't know how long it would take us to ascend back up to the top of the bluff (or if my body was going to hate me at the end), I wouldn't have traded a single moment at the bottom.
"The devil, the prowde spirit, cannot endure to be mocked." ~ Sir Thomas More
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