Letter 17...Gluttony anyone?

This letter is about gluttony. What is gluttony? Gluttony is
1. Eating before the time of meal in order to satisfy the palate.
2. Seeking delicacies and better quality of food to gratify the "sense of taste."
3. Seeking after sauces and seasonings for the enjoyment of the palate.
4. Exceeding the necessary amount of food.
5. Taking food with too much eagerness, even when eating the proper amount, and even if the food is not luxurious.

So, while you may have thought gluttony was just overeating, it can also mean being too particular, eating just to eat or just focusing too much on food.

How can focusing on food interfere with your life?

In what ways according to the letter are women made to be gluttonous?

In what ways are men to be made gluttonous?

Letter 16...Beware of Loyal churchgoers....

One word that may help you understand this letter better is coterie: an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose.

In this letter, Screwtape is alarmed that the patient has been loyal to one church.

What does he suggest Wormwood do about this situation?

What 2 reasons according to Screwtape is "church shopping" better than belonging to one church?

What does Screwtape suggest can be done between "party churches" to cause disruption?

Letter 15.....Live for the Present

Before we get started, here are a few words defined to help you understand the letter:

Avarice: excessive desire for wealth or gain (hhmm, not much avarice in the world today, she says flippantly).

Philological: Study of literature or language.

Complacency: self satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiency.

In this letter, Wormwood notes a lull in the war and wonders how he should take advantage of this lull. Should he use "Stupid confidence," or anxiety about the future? This question brings about a discussion of time. Time is defined as the past, present and future.

What is so bad about living in the past?

Why would the devils want us to avoid living in the present?

Which virtues look to the future?

How should we look to the past, present and future?

***Search for quotes about "living in the present" on google. Post your favorite quote here, remember to note the author.***

Letter 14....

This is a great letter, and one who's meaning is very hard to achieve. My questions for this letter are simple:

What is the theme of this letter (remember the theme is the point the author is trying to convey) ?

What does God want for us?

Letter 13....The blunders of Wormwood

Screwtape shames his nephew, Wormwood in this letter for allowing his patient to experience 2 real pleasures. This letter explains that the devils would rather keep people focused on things they don't truly enjoy. I don't think this means they have to focus on horrible things or even behaving badly, they just need to be kept busy doing things that really don't matter much.

Often, the things people enjoy are what God has given them in the form of gifts and talents. By using these talents they often become closer to God. Something so simple as a walk along a beautiful path can produce a sense of peace and delight that can bring one closer to God. Remember the verse, "Even the rocks cried out His name."

What do you think the "asphyxiating cloud" was that surrounded the patient on his walk from the old mill?

What characteristic does Pain and Pleasure bring?

What state does Screwtape want the patient to be in and why?

How can Wormwood turn this disaster concerning his patient around?

To all who actually LIKE to read and were ever thinking of reading stuff by Tolkien:

I got an awesome idea. Since this class is helping us understand Lewis's writings, why don't those of us who like to read and want to read Tolkien's works, read Tolkien's works over the summer and make a blog to discuss them as we read them. And we could, like, all read at the same pace, so that we're all at the same place in the book. Such books that we could read:

The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King)
Smith of Wootton Major, and Farmer Giles of Ham (It's one book, two stories)
The Silmarillion (haha, just kidding)

Let me know what you guys think. I've actually made a blog which I don't use... at all, and that I would have to rename, but we could use it if you guys want to do this. SO LET ME KNOW.

P.S. I lost the GAME!!

Letter 12....The Slippery Slope

In this letter, Screwtape congratulates his nephew on his progress. It seems his patient is spending increasing amounts of time with his new group of friends, and less time developing his faith. Sure, he still attends church, but his whole heart is not there. A "dim uneasiness" settles in. This "dim uneasiness" can cause him to repent and turn to God or guilt might build up and turn him farther away.

What will God not allow the devils to completely suppress?

What do you think the "dim uneasiness" is that Christians feel when they're being spiritually lazy?

What is the safest road to hell? How can we prevent this in our own life?

Screwtape says, "As one of my own patients said on his arrival down here, I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked." Explain what this means? How does not following God produce this type of life?

Here's a link to a music video that sums it all up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLJF9vaIJ_0

Enjoy!