Chapters 9-10 Questions

1. Why do our "trough periods" make us so vulnerable? Is this applicable to you?

• I believe that our "trough periods" make us so vulnerable because we feel as if we are laid open before all the world's cruelties. During those times in life we feel broken and disconnected from everything good around us. Although that is not true for everyone, because as believers we always have a connection with God, it may seem as though you are alone in the world. That is a very despondent feeling. When someone is in a "trough period" of life he/she can be easily tempted because they are at their lowest and it is hard to keep a responsible or wise mindset during that time. This is applicable to me because when I am going through a "trough period" I do not feel very confident and it can be really hard to think straight and make wise decisions. I feel like my mind gets muddled as to what I should do and what choices I should be making. 

2. What are your thoughts regarding "parallel lives"? What does this mean to you?

• I think that many people today are living with "parallel lives." Especially people in the younger generation that go to a Christian school or go to church and act like they one person but then they go to parties and stay out at night doing bad things and they become a different person. Some people I know are like this. They can act out the part of the "good kid" to their parents, teachers, pastors, and other people; while at the same time are known to be the "party animal" when they go out with certain friends. I think that those who live with "parallel lives" will become very stressed out and worried because they have to keep up with being two different people. Those lives can't be separate forever, one day they will cross and when that day comes I don't think it would turn out too well. To me this means that no matter what group of people I hang out with I need to be the same person. I cannot act like one group and then morph into another person to hang out with another group. I have to be the same person all the time. To me this also means making friends that don't live "parallel lives." I feel like if I have a friend that lives with "parallel lives" I won't ever know who they really are, and that's a pretty important part of a friendship. 

Chapters 7-8 Questions

1. How do you picture the devil? What does this chapter challenge you about regarding the spiritual warfare over your soul?

• Usually I picture the devil as some dark, evil, ugly being that is constantly trying to tempt me to make wrong choices. However, sometimes I picture the devil as a good looking being but inside his mind is twisted and evil. This chapter challenges me to always be careful of what I get involved in and who I surround myself with. I should never place worldly needs above spiritual needs. Things that I am involved in, like sports or other extra-curricular activities, should never come before prayer and spending time with God. 

2. What is the "law of Undulation" Give an example of this in your life.

• The "law of Undulation" is basically the up and down feelings of one toward his/her work, friends, family, and other aspects of life. Not all of someone's life is going to be filled with good memories and good times. There will be bad times, "troughs," that one is going to need to experience; and that is all part of life. An example of this in my life would be during Junior year there were some weeks that I was doing well in all my classes and school was challenging but it wasn't extremely stressful. However, there were some weeks where I felt like all my teachers decided to make every project worth a chunk of the final grade due during the same week. Not all weeks during school are going to be stress-free and not all weeks are going to be chaotic. There will always be ups and downs concerning school work. 

Chapters 5-6 Questions

1. What is Screwtape's idea on the best way for humans to die? Why?

• Screwtape believes that the best way for a human to die is "in costly nursing homes amid doctors who lie, nurses who lie, friends who lie, as we have trained them, promising life to the dying, encouraging the belief that sickness excuses every indulgence, and even, if our workers know their job, withholding all suggestion of a priest lest it should betray to the sick man his true condition!" I think he believes this because when humans die this way they have been constantly lied to until their death. They are also unable to meet with a priest because the priest might reveal their true state of health.

2. How does "...malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary"? How does this apply to your life?

• If Wormwood is successful in pushing malice into his patient's "inner circle" and pushing benevolence to the "outer circle" then his patient will show malice to those closer to him. When benevolence is thrust out to the "remote circumference, to people he does not know" then it becomes an imaginary characteristic of his patient. I think that if Wormwood is able to push malevolence upon his patient so that he does ill toward those he speaks with or interacts every day, his patient's sense of benevolence toward those same people will eventually dissipate. Benevolence will become an imaginary concept to Wormwood's patient, one that he will no longer be familiar with. If I think negatively about people that I know, I tend to begin to think negatively about many things that they do. If I continue to think like this, eventually everything that this person does will become irritating and annoying. My benevolence towards someone like this is very small. I do not want to be kind and my patience with someone like this is very thin. Even though I should be a loving and kind person towards anyone that I come into contact with, it is a struggle when interacting with certain people. 

Chapters 3-4 Questions

1. What are your "daily prinpicks"? For myself, spiral paper eats at something deep inside me.

• One of my "daily prinpicks" would be people who walk too slow. People who walk slow, especially in hallways and other crowded walking areas irritate me. These people need to move faster because the world does not revolve around them and other people need to get places. This is probably my biggest "daily prinpick." Although I know I can't make these people move any faster than the glacial like pace the proceed at, I still become irritated when it happens.

2. What does Lewis suggest when he says "...whatever their bodies do affects their souls"?

• I think that Lewis is suggesting that whatever a person does (e.g. their actions, what they say, where they go, who they are around) affect their mind and soul. What one does will ultimately affect who that person is. We are influenced by the situations we are in, the people we are around, and the different experiences we go through. The way we think is a result of what we surround ourselves with. I think that Screwtape pointed this out to his nephew to remind him that he must surround the "patient" with things that will influence him in the wrong way. 

Chapters 1-2 Questions

1. Note the simple dedication. If you were to write a "spiritual" book, who would you dedicate it to?

• If I were to write a "spiritual" book I would probably dedicate it to my brother. I would want him to read through the book and really take it to heart. He is an important person in my life and I know that reading a "spiritual" book would be very beneficial to him.

2. What do you think about the following quote? "The Enemy allows this disappointment to occur on the threshold of every human endeavour."

• I think that Screwtape is referring to God and how humans are often met with doubts and worry as we commit ourselves to new things. The following quote: "it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing," means that the "disappointment" Screwtape is talking about occurs when a human moves from just thinking about something to actually doing it. Doubts and worry may come along when one practices something new and different. God does this so that we need to put our trust in Him in order to overcome the difficulties we face.