Chapters XII-XV Questions

Chapter XII
What is the “safest road to Hell” (61)? Do you agree or disagree?
Screwtape says the gradual road to hell is the safest one. I agree with Screwtape. I find it very easy in my life to simply fall into a life that’s very uniform and tiresome, and just that kind of lifestyle can put me on a path that is going away from God. Small sins that occur frequently in my life are enough to keep me on that path for long periods of time. I believe that if I were to commit a “big” sin, it may even prove to help me go back to God.

What is the role of “nothing” (60) and “small sins” (60)?
What does that mean for you? I believe that keeping Christians on a path of becoming numbed to the gospel and the Holy Spirit is the role of “nothing” and “small sins”. Much of the time, I can find just being tired and wanting to lie in bed or sit in a chair watching TV can be a distraction from time that I should be devoting to God. This is exactly what the devil wants to use to keep Christians from growing closer to God and developing a relationship with Him.
I think that “nothing” is something that I can see during a lot of my life. When I think back on the years of my life, I can now see the many times in my life where I wasted away and did meaningless things. I know that working on spending my time wisely and constantly looking towards God is something that I need to improve upon and continue improving upon for the rest of my life.
I believe that, in God’s eyes, sin is sin no matter how big or small it may seem in our world. Even though certain sins like murder can have serious consequences in our world, God still views it just like any other sin. Just because a person commits one big sin, it doesn't mean that another person would have to commit many smaller sins to reach the same level as the person who committed the bigger sin. Sometimes I think that I’m better than someone else because I don’t lie as much or curse out loud, but, in reality, I’m the same sinner in God’s eyes.

Chapter XIII
What does the following section mean to you? “Remember always, that He really likes the little vermin, and sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of them. When He talks of their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever. Hence, while He is delighted to see them sacrificing even their innocent wills to His, He hates to see them drifting away from their own nature for any other reason.” This section means a lot to me. Through reading this section, I can really see how much God cares for me as an individual. Even though He wants my entire being and devotion, that doesn’t mean that, once I decide to give myself to Him, He’ll turn me into some robotic Christian that chants the Bible all day. When I give myself to Him, He wants to use me as an individual. He wants to use the special gifts and talents that He’s given me to perform certain tasks that He has given to me as an individual.

What is one simple thing that you truly enjoy? “The man who truly and disinterestedly enjoys any one thing in the world, for its own sake, and without caring twopence what other people say about it, is by that very fact fore-armed against some of our subtlest modes of attack.”
I love the ocean. I think that the ocean in one of the beauties that God has blessed me with. Whenever I think of or am able to look at the ocean, I truly think of how amazing it is. It connects the entire world together. I always think of the people on the other side who might be enjoying a nice summer day at the beach or even trying to survive. It makes me so grateful for the life that I have been given and the many comforts that God has allowed me to have. It is also just something that is just extremely beautiful to look at. Especially on a nice day with clear blue skies, I love simply relishing in the movements of the waves and the beautiful sounds of them crashing on the sand.

Chapter XIV
“...the most repellent and inexplicable trait in our Enemy; He really loves the hairless bipeds He has created....” (72). How does this make you feel?
This quote really makes me feel humbled to be loved and cared for so dearly by such a superior and magnificent God. I often find myself forgetting the very God who created me and the rest of the universe as I move about my daily life, but I know that He is always there and always loving me even if I don’t always have Him in mind.

Chapter XV
What does it mean to have “...nearly all vices are rooted in the future” (76)?
The quote, “nearly all vices are rooted in the future”, is referring to the fact that most sin comes from dwelling on future. For so many people, including myself, it’s easy to place all your hopes, dreams, and happiness on what’s to come. I find it so easy to focus on trying to place all my efforts into my future happiness that I often forget how happy and thankful I should be in the present. Our future is never guaranteed and I often find myself forgetting that fact. I can become so wound up in the future that I end up forgetting God and His will in my life and just immersing myself in that sort of sinful lifestyle.