Fail?!

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default

J. K. Rowling 

Resonance

Yep. This is exactly what our typical workday looks like:

10 Resolutions for Mental Health - Clyde Kilby

This post is pasted from here

1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death when he said: "There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing."

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin, straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their "divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic" existence.

7. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the "child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder."

8. I shall follow Darwin's advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, "fulfill the moment as the moment." I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.

 - Clyde Kilby

Screwtape Letter #1

My dear Wormwood,

The question you raised in your last letter - ‘Why do we spend so much time and resources continuing to attack the belief of the humans the Enemy certainly has snatched into his camp’ is, of course, valid, but has made me ask some more troubling questions to myself. Have I been a bad mentor? Are you really my nephew? Should I just quit? Nevertheless, I find some comfort in the success of some of my other pupils. While we have not been in correspondence for all these years, I expected you to increase and not decrease in your maturity. Besides, I cannot help but ask: What has kept you going on the field all these years? Your question, after all, attacks the very foundations of your work. Or have I found the answer to why we find your work so unproductive? Whatever it be, it might be time for us to take a serous action… may be call you back for a period of re-programming or relieve you of your duties entirely.

I will, however, answer your question in this letter with the hope that my efforts might push you to work the rest of your days, whether few or many, with a renewed vigor to bring honor to our Father below.

It seems to me from your question that you do indeed understand the doctrine of assured loss. By that doctrine, we understand that we will never be able to completely bring a human back to our side that we have lost to the Enemy. We know this not only because the Enemy has claimed that, but also because over all the years we have had no success in this matter (we have not yet given up, but those matters are better left to more capable tempters than you, and are irrelevant to answer your question). Your question is a naive response to that doctrine, and has been asked by thousands, but during far earlier stages in their training. To a novice who first understands that doctrine, it makes much sense that we focus all our resources  on the ones we know we have not yet lost, rather than spending those on the ones we will never win back.

So why don’t we do that?

I am not going to assume you remember much of what has already been taught to you. So.. When the Enemy created these humans, He did it with much care – these beings are unlike any other creatures we know. While He did make them finite, almost like any animal, He did, in that finiteness, add some of His infinite qualities that make them beyond our complete understanding. Infact, some of our kin, who refused to follow our Father sti!ll fall in worship of the Enemy confounded by this simple being. How self abasing and despicable! Anyways, one of the things we do understand is that, ironically He created them with an overpowering desire to be completed – and completed in Him.  Often we have found them express this with some words they use like ‘joy’, ‘happiness’, and ‘satisfaction’ (Don’t try to figure that one out. Being faithful servants of our Father, we have been well protected from such dangers). They are restless without Him.

There is more you should know. Along with a desire to be completed in Him, they have a desire to 'enjoy' Him with other beings - with almost any thing that has breath. 

Now, having been well deprived of this thing they call ‘joy’ that they were created for, for centuries starting from our biggest win against the Enemy through a plan well crafted out by our Father, (the continuous study of which will do you well), these humans have reached a pitiable state. Not only have a lot of them stopped thinking He exists, (Isn’t that hilarious?) they have started finding satisfaction in any toy we have to offer… and sometimes in things even we would never imagine to work for our benefit, as a substitute for Him. They have also become completely confused as to what they live for, and rightly so. But, while we gain the advantage of years, you must remember, even in their pitiable state, all the time and every time, whether knowing or unknowing, they are looking for Him. We can use that desire to our advantage, but we cannot kill it.

The crux of the matter: We would not have spend any resources on any thing after our first win had the Enemy not been so stubborn on wining some of them back to Himself. Long story short (I do not want to get into the details of the implications of our biggest loss 2000 years ago), He brings them back to Himself by faith. Yes, to the same relationship he created them for. They must only believe in Him. Sounds ridiculous, you know that, but pay attention - the more they believe in Him the more they know Him. The more they know Him the more they get transformed to beings they were meant to be (pretty much like the first man from the Garden). That makes them more joyful, more perfect, more incomprehensible, more beautiful, and far less susceptible to our schemes.

It gets worse. Once that happens, they cannot help but communicate Him to all others around them one way or another (and whether they use words for this or not is hardly the point). That is when it becomes problematic. We start loosing our grip over the minds of the ones we have blinded, who on seeing them start wanting what they have. And we all know that deep down, they want Him with that same overpowering desire that they were created with. Even the thought of it makes me shudder.  Against that, our most powerful efforts can fail.

I hope you now see that we have as many humans captured in our camp, not only because our direct efforts to keep them, but that complemented with our efforts to undermine the faith of those on the Enemies camp. So, my dear apprentice, keep at it. Every day... every hour... every second. Incessantly beat against your patients faith, whether you chip little pieces or huge chucks. Change strategies... try out new things, but keep his faith as low as possible. That is your goal and your calling. Your efforts are not in vain. 

In the meanwhile, I will see what can be done to bring you back…

Your affectionate uncle,

Screwtape. 

Random Thought

Insanity is relative

Random Thought

I can't love people because they are lovable. I can love them because God loved me when I was not close to being lovable. 

Amsterdam

One of their lesser known and more beautiful songs. Like it.