Lift Up Your Eyes…
By Brad Beals
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ~ 1 Peter 5:8
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. ~ Matthew 10:16
CS Lewis’s Screwtape Letters is advice from a high-placed devil, Screwtape, to his nephew and lower-ranked devil Wormwood on how he might better corrupt and lead astray his Christian “patient.” The following is my own take on what Screwtape’s advice for the current crisis might sound like. (If you haven’t read the Letters, please don’t let this prejudice you against CS Lewis!)
My dear Wormwood,
From your most recent letter, it is clear you’ve done exceedingly well in fomenting anxiety. These continually mounting fears and losses have proven reliable goads for making most humans anxious. Keep up the good work, and under no circumstances set the strategy aside. But I fear your patient is now beginning to – I dread even to mention it – to lift his eyes above the mess and look to…HIM for help. This, my dear nephew, must never happen. I remind you again of your first duty: to keep his eyes down, his vision at ground level. And the best way to do this in the present opportunity is to shake him daily with the latest “news.” Statistics seem to work well in this. How fortunate for us that humans are so bad at handling data and yet so hungry to consume it! Of course, the news itself, the actual content, is of small matter. It is the changing of the news that is key. To that end, be sure to have your patient regularly (constantly, if possible) in front of a connected device. News cycles are fine, but those media that amplify the news with infinite speculation are best for maintaining the continual buffeting required for that deep sense of insecurity we’re after. Turn his attention to the usual diversions: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, but really, any media form that allows for endless scrolling will do. He’ll be sure to find no rest there. And if – Satan forbid – your patient should open a Bible app, don’t panic. Just stay close to his ear. He can often be redirected with a simple wonder at what the latest numbers are or with curiosity about reactions to his latest post or tweet. And should he engage in such folly as prayer, simply prompt a different member of the household, phone in hand, to sit down next to him. That will usually do the trick. So as you move forward, just keep in mind the little motto you’ve probably seen posted on many an office wall in Hell – “When eyes are ever down, our work is ever done.”
Your affectionate uncle,
Screwtape
We have a very real enemy, and he is an opportunist. He only has a few tricks up his sleeve, but we can bet he’ll try a new one on us for the present crisis. So let us be sober-minded and watchful, wise as serpents and innocent as doves. And let us start by lifting our eyes to HIM.
