Short Blog: Thoughts on The Screwtape Letters

I recently read a book called The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.  The central story is that Screwtape is writing to his nephew on how to deceive his "Patient", an Englishman who just recently became a Christian (chapter 2).  At the end, the Englishman dies due to the Germans air raids on England during World War II and gone to heaven.  The letters go through different stages of the Englishman's life: conversion, finding a church, relationship with his mother who lives with him, having a girlfriend, and then his eventual death at the end of the book.

Some thoughts:

1. Although this is a must-read book for some Christians, I always find reading Lewis's books a little difficult.  I struggled with Mere Christianity, but not as much as Screwtape.  I think Mere Christianity, I knew that it was a transcription of his radio program, so much of the book was his babbling on radio.  But dwindle down to the core of Mere Christianity, I understood the overall message of the book.  But Screwtape was a written work of fiction, and there is much babbling which sort of distracts from the central message of the book.
2. Speaking of, what is the message of the book?  If you read chapter 2 (or round abouts), you see that this "Patient" has become a Christian.  But throughout the book, Screwtape writes to Wormwood on how to manipulate his mind, to get him to denounce his faith and fall back to sin.  Taking a step back, does C.S. Lewis suggest that one can lose their salvation?  Or that no matter what the devils do to Christians, Christians will always have a place in heaven, and that God's love prevails, and faith will ultimately overcome temptation?  
3. Towards the end of the book, you read that World War II is happening in Europe and the Germans has started to attack England.  One of the things I find interesting is that Screwtape is asking Wormwood to do all that he can to keep the Patient alive.  If the very act of war has started with evil and Satan (which Screwtape called him "Father" in the book; God was referred to as the "Enemy"), why would Screwtape want the Patient to remain alive?  Or maybe Screwtape doesn't know no matter what he and Wormwood do to the Patient, the Patient will go to heaven no matter what?

Un-resolute the Resolution 2025

You ever wonder why we always reflect on what we've done in the past year towards the end of the year? It seems like this time of year, we reflect on what we've accomplished or have not accomplished, and make goals and plans to do better for the coming year.  Why do we not have this same reflection during the summer? Is it a psychological effect of the winter solstice?  

To dissect this a little bit, let's look at the history of the calendar.  Before the Julian calendar, the first of the year was observed in the spring which made sense.  Spring was the time flowers started to bloom, animals came out of hibernation, and people were preparing to sow seeds for harvesting later in the summer months.  But there were many calendars used around the world, and the history I found of the calendar were mainly about the calendars developed by the Romans and later the Catholic Church.  Before the Julian calendar, the Romans used a 10-month calendar which had a void of two strange nameless months during the winter months.  This calendar was messed up, and that was a big problem especially for celebrating holidays.  The Julian calendar sort of fixed this with a 12-month calendar (with 365.25 days per year, with a leap year every 4 years) and also placed the first of the year on January 1st. (January comes from the Roman god Janus, who is the god of time, transition, and beginnings.  This date is also the date the Roman consul took office every year.)  But this calendar did not take into account an extra 11 minutes each year which still shifted the calendar days.  This was still a huge problem with the seasons and holidays, especially now that after the birth of Christ and the spread of Christianity, there were many major holidays to observe and celebrate.  It was in 1582 that Pope Gregory XIII adjusted the calendar to 365.2524 days a year, which accounted for the 11 minutes.  We still had leap year every 4 years, adding a day to the calendar on those years, but every 100 years, we do not have leap year, except every 400 years.  Yikes.  But since 1582, we have not had any major shifts in days and months as we did many hundreds of years ago.  The Gregorian calendar is now used worldwide, although many cultures may still use their respective cultural calendars to calculate their holidays (e.g. the Chinese calendar is still used in China and diaspora to figure out the Chinese New Years and other various Chinese holidays).  

So, why bring this up?  I think people could have easily plucked any date from the air and call it day one of the year.  The Romans picked January 1, which is about a week and a half after the winter solstice, or a week after Saturnalia (December 25).  The Chinese calendar is mainly a Soli-lunar calendar, so the first of the year on the Chinese calendar is usually the second new moon after the winter solstice.  March 21st (the vernal equinox) could have been picked which is the first day of spring, or right on the Winter Solstice which marks the day with the least amount of sunlight but also signifies the start of increasing daylight every day afterwards.  It could have been on April 1st, which was another original date for the first day of the year.  

During this time of the winter holidays and around the winter solstice, people are already gathered together to celebrate the end of a season and/or the beginning of a new season.  Folks are already in that mood of reflection, so I think it's easy for people to look forward to a "new year" after their festivities.  However, people could easily make these same reflections and set goals throughout the year, and not just this time of year. 

Although this is the time I would also reflect on the past year and make resolutions for the new year, I would make some goals for this year, but I'm also not going to be too hard or strict on myself.  A "resolution" is setting goals with purpose and determination.  I decided that although we do need purpose, I am not going to be so determine about it.  Because we are humans, and we make mistakes, and we fall out of habits quite often.  

So, to reflect back on what I did in 2024 and set some loose goals for myself this year:

• Family: My dad's eyesight hasn't been great last year and has gotten a little worst.  In case you don't know, my dad has diabetes and glaucoma, and glaucoma will affect ones eyesight.  Even though he's been taking insulin, watching his diet, etc., his eyesight started to go out from the beginning of 2020.  He does still get depressed, which in turns really saddens me.  I do hope he finds some joy that I am taking care of him as his caregiver.  My dog is still around.  She turned 10 last July, approaching 11.  She's still a hoot, and still very much like a puppy, although she has slowed down some.  We have hit different greenways last year and I hope to go to some more when the weather turns warmer again.  Right now, it's chilly and we can still go but I don't like cold weather, and we have resorted to short walks in the neighborhood on good days.
• Reading: I had this goal last year in reading at least four books, but I only read three books.  And although you may see that as short of my goals, I called this a success because I used to love reading books as a child and youth but fell out of interest many years ago.  So, to read three books, at least I'm showing progress.  This year, I still plan to read four books, which the first three are Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein, Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright and The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis, and a fourth book yet to be determined.  But I'm not going to fret if I can't get to all of these books, or I may even change my mind and read something totally different later on.
• Writing: I did want to write more.  I only got to six blogs, which is a far cry from the 24 blogs I wrote in 2023.  I think because I got involved with life again, in-person activities, meeting of friends, and more travel.  But I think now I know my limit of "peopling" and will focus on some more writing this year.  How many blogs and other things will I write?  Who knows!
• Travels: Last year, my cousin got married!  So my brother and I took a trip to Hong Kong, but we also did a cousins trip to Seoul, South Korea.  I think my travels last year also took me to Chicago for a workshop conference (which is one that I've been to many times, both the city and the conference), and a single Christian's retreat to St. Simon's Island, GA (more on that later).   Although I don't have those types of travel plans this year, I hope to travel to some place by some random planning. 
• Activities and Health: Never started jogging.  Well, I tried.  Every time I tried, my back hurts and my knees hurt.  I sound old but I have had a crooked back for a while now.  And the knee is probably a hereditary trait as my mom had the same problems.  But in August of last year, I joined Planet Fitness and things were going fine until I messed up my back after my Asia trip.  So, I haven't really been back to the gym much, but I plan to go now that we are in a new year.  I've also signed up for Weight Watchers a few days before New Year, so at least I'm starting something before everybody else.  And of course, I'll need to eat healthier, and all that stuff.  
• Spiritual and Fellowship: I think I'm still kind of at this stage of questioning.  Last year, the questioning was a lot less but I think the "why's" are still in the back of my mind.  I still question the original sin.  I still question the actual essence of Jesus Christ and his connection to God, or rather the whole connection and relationship of the trinity.  For over a year now, I've parked myself at Mosaic Church (Charlotte), and although I enjoy the sermons and their general beliefs, I don't know if I will continue going to just the sermons, as I need a group to connect.  But their cast of characters can be awkward sometimes, and I don't know if I want to contribute to the awkwardness since I am usually a socially awkward person sometimes.  I think the biggest thing for me with regards to fellowship is being involved with a Facebook group called The Grownup's Table: A Community for Christian Singles.  It's been the biggest source of fellowship for me in 2024.  But although I enjoy being in the group, it also has its downs as well.  The group itself is made up of 3500 members worldwide, with the biggest groups in the Southeast.  Within the Charlotte region, there are at least 200 members, but most of them live in an area about 30-40 minutes from where I live.  So in response to that, I started having meals as a sub-group of the Charlotte group, in hopes that we would meet regularly and do stuff together.  Also through this Facebook group, I joined a Bible study that one of the members holds.  I have been going on and off in 2024, but I hope to commit and go continuously and as much as I can.