June 18, 2025 • 41 mins
What if your quietest moments are the devil’s favorite playground?
In this episode, we crack open Letters 12 & 13 of The Screwtape Letters, where C.S. Lewis exposes:
How boredom breeds “harmless” thoughts that slowly poison faith.
Why your spiritual highs/lows aren’t accidents—they’re demonic strategy.
Why restlessness is more dangerous than busyness.
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
- (2 Corinthians 10:5)
#MindWarfare #SpiritualWarfare #Hijacked
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast.
I am your host, kara Hunt, andwith me is the beautiful and
extraordinarily talented SherrySwarwell.
How are you today, sherry?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I am doing great, I am loving life and I have really
this summer just kind of takenthe stance of intentionality, so
being present and intentionalwith what I'm doing when I'm
doing it and not you know thatsounds terrible, because it
sounds like kind of bad if I saynot worrying about the future,
(00:54):
but I mean that in a good waylike not thinking about what I
have to do two months from nowor you know any of that, but
instead just being thankful forwhere God has placed me and
making sure that I takeadvantage of and enjoy the
opportunities that he gives me.
And one of my favoriteopportunities is when I get to
(01:15):
spend the morning with you.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Aww, you're so sweet.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Aww, I'm so grateful.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I you know, for some of our listeners.
Sherry and I have been friendsfor like over a decade now and
it is not abnormal.
We didn't stop ourselves.
We could like be on the phonefor 24 hours, you know, and
still have stuff left tochit-chat about.
But yeah, and it's just awesomethat God has brought us
(01:50):
together, gave us the samevision for this podcast and for
those of you who are just tuningin, we just want to say welcome
to the Cheer Up podcast, whichis based on the verses of the
scripture, john 1633, and Sherrywill be explaining more about
that at the end of the podcast.
(02:12):
But we want to say welcome andthank you so much for joining in
.
This month we are continuing ourdiscussion on the topics of the
book the Screwtape Letters byCS Lewis and, for those who just
(02:35):
may be joining in, it is apiece of classic literature
originally written, I believe,in 1940s, 1941, I think.
Then I think it was publishedagain in 1960.
So it's definitely considered apart of classic literature.
We are not.
We are discussing the topics ofthe book.
(02:56):
We're not necessarily going tobe reading huge passages from
the book.
I may read like one or twopassages from the book, but
we're mostly discussing thetopics of the book, because even
though the book was written inthe 1940s, a lot of the topics
have not changed because of whatit's dealing, how it's talking
(03:18):
about how Satan deals withhumans, basically.
So a lot of that has notchanged and I believe that's one
of the reasons why it's justalways been one of the books
that Christians like to read,because it kind of gives you an
insight view, a kind of behindthe curtain look of how things
(03:40):
works.
Regarding that, for those of youwho would like the book, it's
available almost anywhere.
I do know the Unabridgedversion is available on
audiobook for free if you haveAudible, if you have like Hindu
Audible and I do think it's likeunder, I think, $10 in some
(04:07):
cases on Amazon or somethinglike that if you like digital.
But, of course, if you want thepaperback copy or the hard
copies of the book, those Ithink are available as well.
Let me say paperback.
I don't know if hardback isavailable, but it's definitely
one of those books that are very, very easy to find and you
could be able to find it andlocate it at any of those places
(04:30):
I mentioned, or you could putit in a request at your local
bookstore as well.
So I'm all for supporting localbookstores.
I just wanted to give that aplug real quick.
So, however, the book theScrewtape Letters is about two
(04:51):
demons communicating with eachother.
They are sending Screwtape.
The name of the book is theScrewtape Letters and it's
basically because he's writingletters.
Screwtape is a higher demon,he's a higher a demon and a
higher archie.
He's a higher demon, he's ahigher level demon, and his
(05:13):
nephew is a novice, a new demon,so to speak.
So the title of the book, theScrewtape Letters, refers to the
letters that Uncle Screwtape iswriting to his nephew Wormwood
on how to handle Wormwood'snewly assigned Christian for
humans.
So that's what that's about andour summer series, because we
(05:35):
have been covering these lettersstarting in June, you know, and
it is now.
We have covered letters onethrough eleven.
So this month, for this month,we will be discussing letters
twelve through twenty-one, Ibelieve.
So make sure you tune in everyweek this month, you know, as we
(05:58):
continue to discuss all theletters.
We have 21 letters in theentire book.
So we'll be wrapping this upsometime in September, so we
won't go on forever.
We're calling it the SummerSeries.
Technicute should be the SummerFall Series, but right now
we're just going to call it theScrewtape Letters.
This is what we're doing,discussing during this time
(06:19):
frame and, um, oh, I was goingto say some oh, oh, oh oh.
Okay, now I know what I wasgoing to say For those of you
who are listening, and if youwould like to have a more deeper
discussion about the Screwtapeletters, then let us know, send
us an email at chairupicast atgmailcom and say hey, you know
(06:41):
we would like to.
I've got the book, I purchasedthe book, I read the book or I
knew to the book, but I wouldlike to discuss some of the
topics further.
I have some things I'd like toshare, some thoughts and
comments and commentary.
Then let us know, send us anemail at chairupicast at
gmailcom and say, hey, yes, wewould like to be able to discuss
(07:02):
this with you, know, you andSherry, something like that.
We will open up a Twitter spaceto do so.
If we get at least 10 peoplewho would be interested in doing
something like that, then justsend us an email and say, yes, I
would be interested in joiningyou guys at a Twitter space and
then, once we get at least 10people.
We will share a time and a date.
(07:22):
For that to happen, we wouldneed at least well, we would
need at least 10, but at least10 would be ideal because, for
those of you who are familiarwith Twitter spaces, you're
allowed 10 people are allowed tospeak at one time, but you can
have as many as a million peoplein the space, but only 10 are
allowed to speak at one time.
But we would love to hear yourinput on the series, we would
(07:44):
love to hear your thoughts onthe book, and if you guys are
interested in an open discussion, then just shoot us an email
chairupicastatgmailcom and wewill go ahead and we will get
that started and scheduled.
So, is there anything youwanted to add, sherry, before we
get started?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
No, I think you covered it all.
I'm excited for you know.
You've really made theScrewtaped Letters exciting for
me.
I have always been intimidatedby Lake, shakespeare and the
older classics, and so I tendedto avoid them in my life, and
you've just really made thisseries exciting for me.
(08:21):
So if you can do that for me,then I know that there are lots
and lots of people who love theclassics who I hope, have found
the podcast and are enjoying itjust as much.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Well, thank you, and I honestly wish I could take the
credit for that.
But I think you know youmentioned something my classic
literature was definitelywritten a lot different than
like the stuff we read today.
Right, the language isdifferent, the words they choose
(08:55):
to use are different, you know,and different things like that.
And especially when, likeShakespeare well, at least CF
Lewis I know he's not American,I believe he's British English
or something like that but andthen they use a different type
of words as well.
But classic literature wasdefinitely written in different
ways.
A lot of people find it hard ordifficult to read because it
(09:19):
just I don't think it quiteblows as well as it does with
these.
But CF Lewis did such a greatbook Actually all of his books,
I believe.
You know he's just an awesomeauthor.
He was an awesome author sothat he just had just a
beautiful, beautiful gift ofwriting and he's run, written
(09:42):
lots of novels and fiction andnonfiction books and he was just
really, really great at what hedid.
And I think what just makesthis book in particular so
exciting is because it just isageless and it's very hard to
write something to.
You know, that's ageless,meaning that what was, excuse me
(10:04):
, just as in reverent, relevantback in the 1940s, was relevant
way before the end, 2000 yearsprior, and relevant still today,
and I think that's what justmakes him a master at writing.
So and I remember when I readthis book, maybe a decade or so
(10:26):
ago, when I first read the book,I just I found it so exciting,
but it was also kind of scary,you know, at the same time, to
know that sometimes we are beingmanipulated without even
knowing that we're beingmanipulated spiritually and yeah
, you know, and it was veryeye-opening and because of
today's culture and things thatare going on now and, like I
(10:46):
said, it doesn't even matter,it's just an ageless book, but
anyway, it's in letters 12 and13, which we're going to be
talking about in this episode.
Screw tape as always, unclescrew tape, because he's the
uncle writing the letters to hisnovice nephew Wormwood the new
(11:10):
devil demon, excuse me and he,as always, uncle screw tape, is
just like very agitated andannoyed and frustrated and
disappointed in his nephewWormwood, because he's just
never happy.
Nothing Wormwood does is enoughor good enough or anything, and
(11:30):
so he's just always kind ofdisappointed that he doesn't
take something further enoughwith his assigned human who
happens to be a new Christian,new to the faith, or he missed
an opportunity, and in letters12 through 21 that we'll be
covering this month, it's thesame thing.
(11:53):
He's just very, very upset withhim, you know, because you know
he's just never doing anythingright.
But you know what that justcomes with part of the territory
, right, sherry, when you'reworking for someone who really
doesn't have your best interestat heart at all.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Every time you talk aboutwormwood and screw tape, that's
what I think about.
I think how there's that lie inthere, that there's that
deception that they're for you.
Evil is for you.
Evil is good, but you willnever make evil happy and you
will never please evil, andthere's nothing even remotely
(12:35):
associated with love, with evil.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yes, and it's right.
And so it's like when you getinto association with people or
things like that.
Now, in this case it'sspiritual.
So if wormwood was a personbefore he died, like screw
tape's actual nephew, and hedied, went to hell I mean, his
bed is made for him right now.
It's nothing he can do.
He can do about it, right, andhe's there, but it just goes to
(13:01):
show you that you know peoplewho would always say, oh, heaven
is boring, I'd rather go tohell.
There's a lot of stuff going ondown there.
Well, just don't think it'sgoing to be anything different.
You're just going to betortured and lied to and still
being manipulated.
Probably you know.
So you know, you eventuallystart keeping company with those
(13:23):
people you hang around.
And so in this case, from uncleto nephew, uncle screw tape to
nephew wormwood, nothing, it'sthe same thing, right?
And in letter 12, which istitled, which is really just the
topic is about nothing, unclescrew tape, nothing.
(13:45):
As in uncle screw tape wantshis nephew wormwood to teach his
human about the art of nothing.
You know, it's like he's new.
Uncle screw tape is tellingwormwood your human is new to
the Christian faith.
(14:06):
You're already about that tohappen, you know, and everything
else.
So now we got to go aboutfixing that to make sure that we
keep him on a straight path tohell, you know, and everything
else.
And so he keep.
But he tells screw tape.
Screw tape tells his nephewwormwood that to just keep it
slow and steady is that he wantshim to do that by doing nothing
(14:33):
in quotation marks and havingthe Christian, his new male
Christian, who I think is inabout his 30s to focus on
absolutely nothing, to get hismind to think about nothing, and
that that that is what hisletter to wormwood is about.
And just a small quote fromthere.
(14:53):
He just says this is screw tape, uncle, screw tape, to his
nephew wormwood, both humandemons and they're referring to
wormwood's newly assignedChristian and screw tape says
nothing is nothing.
The word nothing, nothing, isvery strong.
It is strong enough to stealaway a man best years not in
(15:16):
sweet sins, but in a drearyflickering of the mind over it,
knows not what and knows not why, and the gratification of
curiosity so feeble that the manis only half aware of them, and
drumming of fingers and kickingup heels and whistling tunes
that he does not like, or in along, dim labyrinth of reveries
(15:36):
that have not even lust orambition to give them a relish,
but which, once chanceassociation has started them,
the creature is too weak andfuddled to shake off.
You will say, wormwood, thatthese are very small sins, and
doubtless they are like allyoung tempters.
You're anxious to be able toreport spectacular wickedness.
But remember the only thingthat matters is the extent to
(15:59):
which you separate the man fromGod.
It does not matter how smallthe sins are, provided that
their cumulative effect is toedge the man away from the light
and out into nothing.
When you do this, murder is nobetter than cards, if cards can
do the trick.
Indeed, the safest road to hellis the gradual one, the gentle
(16:20):
slope, soft underfoot, withoutsudden turnings, without
milestones, without signposts.
Your affectionate uncle's screwtape.
So I hope that makes sense.
I had to switch a few thingsaround in there so that it
wouldn't be, as I'm sharing partof the book on the other
podcast, that you won't getconfused, because I had to
(16:41):
change the word enemy to God inthere, because that's literally
who he's talking about, becauseyou have to remember he uncle
screw tape is a demon.
So when he first did enemy he'sreally burning to God, so that
it wouldn't be confusing.
You know, to listen to thepodcast I was having to switch
you know a few words around orwhatnot, just to make it clear.
It's a lot clearer when youread it, but not so much when
(17:04):
you listen to it if you haven'tread the book before.
But what I find interestingthere is how he talks about how,
if one would get his newlyassigned Christian's mind to
think about nothing, how strongthat is, and how I could flick
away a man's best years, notnecessarily in sense, but just
in the dreariness of thinking ofnothing, just having them drum
(17:28):
their nails on the table orkicking their heels or just
whistling a tune, how that islike ample fertile ground for
Satan to place thoughts in aChristian's mind.
What do you think about that,sherry?
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I think that it's very telling, kind of like you
said when you started readingthis book when you were younger,
that it scared you.
There's a lot of truth in justa few words.
Not that playing cards is wrong, but when you are, not, that
(18:07):
you know like it's not supposedto be taken from a legalistic
point of view or a legalisticstandpoint.
When earrings isn't wrong,having your hair done isn't
wrong, those types of things.
But when you drink the drink ofidleness, it does open you up
to different thoughts that canbecome sin, different ideas when
(18:38):
you sit there and you allow.
See, there's a difference forme between nothing and sitting
in quiet with God when you're ohthat's not what Screwtape was
talking about, though.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, oh right, exactly that's what.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
I mean when you focus on the Heavenly Father and when
you focus on worship and whenyou focus on just spending time
with your Creator.
That can still be quiet but,it's not nothing that allows the
Holy Spirit to speak into yourlife, but when you sit there
(19:16):
with a blank slate, then you'reallowing either the Holy Spirit
or the enemy to put thoughtsinto plant thoughts and lies in
your head, and that's when itgets into the dangerous ground.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Absolutely, and thank you.
I remember growing up I wouldget chest eyes sometimes like
about that.
I can't remember which familymember would do it, but I was a
child and it was like you know,I guess maybe I was staring off
into space or something.
(19:52):
I have no idea.
It's highly possible I was oneof those kids that just was
staring out the window orsomething, and I can't remember
which family member was olderfamily member.
Oh, you know, you need to dosomething.
Don't let your mind just beempty.
I don't know if this is thedevil's playground or the
devil's workshop or things likethat.
(20:13):
And as a child you don't reallythink much about it, right?
You're like, oh, here goesthese older people again with
all these things you know andeverything else.
But as you get older you dorealize that if your mind is not
focused on God or godly things,then it is so easy for the
enemy to plant something in yourmind.
It is.
(20:34):
You know, you could just besitting there and you could just
be tired.
You could just come home fromwork and you could just have
just plopped down on the couchand you're like I don't want to
think about anything.
I am so mentally tired, mybrain is tired, and you'd be
surprised all of a sudden,something that when your
co-workers say it, but earlierthat day, just starts to grate
(20:56):
on you.
It didn't bother you too muchat the time, but once you came
home and you plopped on thecouch and kind of laid your head
back against it and you're justthinking, you're like you know
what?
Did she say?
What I just think she said.
I didn't pay attention to itearlier, but now that I think
about it I'm really gettingupset about it.
Like she didn't have to saythat, she didn't have to do that
(21:18):
.
He didn't have to put it to methat way.
Or did she snatch that paperfrom my hand when I handed her
that file?
Do you see what I mean?
It's like all of a suddenyou're like I don't want to
think about nothing, but thenall these little things that you
previously didn't give anycredence to they start playing
back in your mind.
Have you ever had that happento you, sherry?
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Absolutely.
In fact, there's nothing Ithink that Satan loves more than
when you're having adisagreement with somebody or a
conflict of some kind and I knowthis used to happen to me a lot
until I really learned how totake my thought captive.
But I would do washing thedishes or I would be cleaning
(21:59):
the house Something that ismindless, baking those types of
things and I would replayconversations over and over and
over in my head and I would stewon them and I would get madder
and madder and I would feel moreand more justified that I was
right and they were wrong.
And how dare they?
And yeah, I think that Satanlooks at those things and says,
(22:25):
oh my gosh, how easy this personmade it so, how easy Sherry
made it, so that I canmanipulate her mind and I can
help her plant seeds ofbitterness or plant seeds of
unforgiveness, or help her learnhow to hold a grudge, all of
those different things.
And so I have learned formyself that when I'm going to do
(22:50):
something mindless, thatespecially baking like baking is
my relaxation, my go-to, myenjoyment, and if I'm going to
do something like that, I willput on worship music so that
when my mind wanders, it'swandering to good things, and
it's a time that I'm invitingthe Holy Spirit to speak to me
(23:11):
instead of simply letting mymind go where it wants to go,
because, as a human, it's ninetimes out of 10 going to go
places that it shouldn't go, andI don't want to be that person.
I don't want to give Satan afoothold and I don't want to
(23:33):
give him the satisfaction thathe's got me.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yes, and that actually leads into letter 13.
I'm sorry, letter 12, which, no, I'm right, letter 13.
Sorry, letter 12 was just aboutnothing, mindless, nothing, and
exactly what Sherry was talkingabout.
But you could be doingsomething simple as washing
(23:57):
dishes and just having thosethings replay in your mind and
things like that.
And then in letter 13, he is.
I'm sorry, yeah, letter 13,.
He screw tape is like upset nowwith Wormwood again, because
he's always upset with hisnovice nephew, you know, because
he's like right, you just don'tget it Because somehow now
(24:22):
Uncle Screwtape has found outthat the human, the Christian,
the human that was assigned toWormwood, who's a Christian, has
now realized his mentalidleness in a way right, and
he's kind of repented of it andhe's just like, okay, wait, what
, what was I doing, you know?
So he started like Wormwoodkind of lost his grip on the
(24:44):
patient because, excuse me, inthe book it first was the
patient, but it's his newChristian human that he's been
assigned to.
And he's just like, wait, what?
Like how did you let him becomeaware of his you know spiritual
adriftness and how you wereleading him adrift of what he
(25:06):
was supposed to be doing?
And now somehow he's awakenedfrom that.
He's kind of repented from thatand everything else, like how,
how in the world did you letthis happen?
But all is not lost, right?
This is what Uncle Screwtape istelling his nephew Wormwood.
All is not lost, all theselittle simple pleasures that he
now has found, that he's justtrying to to find out, you know,
(25:30):
and his new feelings andeverything is, and him just
taking little personal pleasureslike looking at the birds or
whatever.
It's basically what he's, youknow, talking about.
But he's like you know, all isnot lost because we can still
keep him from acting on his newfeelings of like true repentance
, you know, and excuse me, ofrepentance and being aware of
(25:52):
that his mind was just driftingAnything good at this point.
Uncle Screwtape wants anythinggood and that the man finds
pleasurable, no matter how smallit is.
Uncle Screwtape wants hisnephew Wormwood to eradicate
(26:13):
them from the new Christianhuman he's been assigned to.
He just wants him to starthaving a sour taste in his mouth
.
He just wants it to be like youknow what is the matter Like I
used to just enjoy going for awalk now.
I don't want to.
I feel thoughtful about it.
(26:34):
It's raining out, the sky isn'tas bright as it used to be, the
sun's night is shining, theflower's on is pretty, you know.
He just wants him to be, Iguess, a little bit more
critical of the things that heused to find pleasurable.
And when I think back over mylife, I'm like you know what.
There's many times where I thinkI have a lot that have to
(26:55):
happen, where it's somethingthat I found just pure joy in
pure, clean joy.
In All of a sudden it's like,yeah, I don't care for that
anymore and I didn't really knowwhy, and I was shrugged off
right and not knowing that thatcould just be a tactic of the
enemy to steal away thosebeautiful little things, those
gifts that God gives us everyday in nature or, you know, in
(27:17):
our life, to just say, hey, lookwhat I did for you, or hey, I'm
winking at you, I just want youto see these beautiful sunrise
or things like that.
And then, or something assimple as a walk, right, and or
even something as simple as rain.
You know, I think we need to goback like we were when we were
kids Well, some of us, you know,when we were kids and it would
(27:42):
rain and we saw this opportunityto go outside and play, we
didn't care about getting wet.
right, it was yay, water, rainfrom the sky, you know, natural,
uh, waterfall or whatever.
And you just go outside, youplay, you make mud pies, you
know and everything and you know.
But then you come as an adult,you're like ah, it's raining, I
(28:03):
don't want to go outside.
Has anything ever like thatever happened to you?
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Sherry, absolutely, and I think that's kind of what
I was talking about when wefirst started the episode today,
and that is staying intentional, staying present, looking
around and being grateful forwhat I have, and I have lived so
much.
I think we talked about thislast month I don't remember
(28:27):
exactly which episode it was butwe were talking about how I
used to live with the attitudeof, well, I'm going to get to
the promised land and when I getthere it's going to be milk and
honey and I'm going to sit anddrink my coffee and life is
going to be fantastic.
Well then, god woke me up andgrew me up and matured me up,
and that's not the way that lifegoes, and so I've had to kind
(28:50):
of like step back, take off thepolyanac glasses and just say
you know what?
There is a lot of joy and a lotof good to be found, even as
I'm wandering the desert.
I don't want to be wandering thedesert, so I want to do
everything I can to get out ofthe desert as fast as I can, but
there's joy in the journey andhe literally had to take years
(29:10):
to teach me that and I hate toadmit it, but there have been
seasons in my life, evenrecently, where I've forgotten
that truth that there's joy tobe found no matter what season
I'm in.
And this summer I kind of justtried to be more intentional.
And you know, last summer I hadexperienced burnout and so I
(29:32):
was kind of like doing less andtrying to just be present with
God more.
And I noticed that, like myyoungest and I were used to take
walks every single morning, andespecially in June, looking
back, I noticed that June wasthe most enjoyable because it
was cooler temperatures, thehumidity hadn't set in, the
(29:56):
mosquitoes hadn't arrived, thecorn and the crops hadn't grown
to the point where we couldn'tsee the little animals anymore.
You had the big expanses of thefield, so you could see possums,
you could see fox, you couldsee raccoons, you could see the
deer, and then, as the corn andthe crops grew, those got more
(30:18):
hidden.
But even the sounds of thebirds, the music, I mean, like I
noticed so many differentsounds and so many different
colors of the birds.
And so this year, going into it, I had that the joy from last
year, and I was like, oh, we'regoing to walk every single day
and we're going to do this andwe're going to do that, and it's
just going to be amazing, justlike it was.
(30:40):
Well, this summer didn't quiteturn out the way that last
summer did.
There were more health issues,there were more.
The schedule was a littledifferent.
So we didn't get to walk fivedays a week like I wanted to.
We didn't do as much of a.
I should say it lookeddifferent than it looked last
year and you know what?
It has been just as enjoyable.
(31:01):
I have found that I'm not like,okay, I'm a failure because I
didn't walk five days this week.
No, I'm not a failure, I walkedthree days this week.
It was intentional and I lovedevery single minute of it, you
know.
So it's just little things likethat.
But I think that if we justmake that little mind shift,
that little shift in ourthinking, it makes such a huge
(31:25):
difference.
And God is an out there with aI don't know Like a sword, I
don't know what you want to evencall it, but God's not out
there waiting to punish us.
He's not out there saying youdidn't thank me today for the
indigo bunting that I broughtinto your yard.
No, he's like ah, she missedthat indigo bunny today.
(31:46):
I wonder if I can give it toher tomorrow.
I wonder if she'll see ittomorrow.
You know, he, he, he gives usso many different opportunities
to praise him, so I think I wantto encourage people with that
today, kara.
People like me, will sometimesput a little too much pressure
on themselves.
But why don't you today, ortake this month, since it's the
(32:06):
beginning of of August, whydon't we take this month and
just invite God into oureveryday, all day conversation?
Just say, hey God, good morning, thank you for waking me up
today.
What do you want to show metoday?
Open my eyes and draw myattention to the gifts and the
blessings that you want to giveme.
(32:27):
Do that indigo bunting.
And if you don't know what theyare, they're beautiful.
I did not know my bird until ouryoungest educated me and I got
to tell you this year, thissummer, he has shown me they're
called dick sizzles.
They are beautiful, oh my gosh.
They're like yellow with eithergray or like a greenish color.
(32:49):
I can't remember exactly.
Beautiful birds, oh, beautiful,no-transcript birding.
And we were going down thisroad and we could hear them.
Like he showed me what thesound was or he had me listen to
the sound and so I knew I could.
I couldn't hear him, I couldpick him out and knew that they
were there, but we couldn't seeany.
Turned my head and it was righton the fence post, right next
(33:11):
to my side of the car.
I mean like plain as day rightthere just like a picture and I
was like thank you, God.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
And so he was able to fix that.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
So, just like little things like that, just I
encourage you and I want to Iwant to not challenge, I want to
encourage people this month tojust start a running
conversation with God and saywhat is it, God, that you want
to show me today?
How do you want me to beintentional and what do you want
to show me?
And maybe you hate birds, Maybebirds are not your thing.
(33:41):
Maybe you love cars, Maybe Godwants to show you a car today
that that you know it's reallyawesome.
I don't know, Hemmy car, Idon't know even what, what kind
of car things there are.
But maybe, God, maybe you lovecars.
But whatever it is, I just knowthat we have a God who loves us
so much and is so personal thathe wants to have that
(34:02):
relationship with you in the waythat speaks loudest to you.
So that's my encouragement topeople today.
Kara, do you have anything thatyou want to say before we wrap
it up?
Speaker 1 (34:15):
No, well, I always say no and then I add something.
But as you were talking aboutthis month and just being
grateful at the things that Godshows us in with his wonderful
creatures, just yesterday myhusband came in and he was
talking about how he saw a hugegopher.
He was in a backyard, I believehe saw a huge gopher and
(34:37):
immediately I just kind of wentinto panic mode because and
please don't laugh, okay, Iassume I in my mind I don't know
the difference Um, I, I getconfused a gopher and a mole.
So when he said huge gopher, Iwas thinking, oh my goodness,
you know, that's that mole thatdigs holes or tunnels in your
(34:58):
yard and you know there's sohard to get rid of.
And I just panic and I'mthinking, you know?
And then when he corrected meon it, he's like but no, a
gopher is not a mole.
So thank you all for notlaughing, but uh, it's still.
I was just like ew ick, agopher, you know.
And I'm thinking why would I saythat?
Why would I do that about God'screatures, you know?
(35:19):
And I'm like what?
What I should do is learn moreabout golfers and just see how
God has created them to bless usCause I put everything that God
has created.
There's a reason for it, and soI just want to be thankful for
this.
I'm glad that you mentionedthat, instead of having that
factor regarding it, just belike God.
Why, why did you create golfers?
(35:39):
What did I pour you know how dothey bless you, know humanity
and everything like that.
So that's a great idea, sherry.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Well, I love that care that you brought it even
fuller circle, because, yes, Ihave a tendency to have that um
need jerk reaction and I say ewa lot more like ew, not um, a
lot more than I want to, andthat's another thing that I'm
really working on that, insteadof allowing that, that first one
time gut reaction, I need tostop and say, okay, what is it
(36:12):
about this?
Ew is not the right response,so let me let me have a better
response.
So, god, what do you want toteach me through this?
I love that.
Yes, as Carol was saying, thepodcast um centers around the
verse John 16 33 and it's Jesustalking and he says these things
(36:33):
I have spoken to you that in meyou may have peace In the world
.
You will have tribulation orgopher or spiders or six.
Yes, yes, yes, the year I haveovercome the world.
What encouragement and what umassurance that we have.
But there is nothing that weface that God isn't in charge of
(36:56):
, that God is not in control of,and that we don't have to worry
.
He has really been teaching melately that, even when I don't
get the answer that I want, Ican trust him with the answer
that I get because he's workingall things out for good in the
background and I may not see himworking, but that doesn't mean
(37:17):
he isn't in.
That all goes back to thatintentionality of living
intentionally and live, livingin the present and being
grateful for the stage, theseason, the circumstances that
I'm in right now.
That doesn't mean that I haveto be thankful for pain or
thankful for grief or thankfulfor tough.
(37:38):
Necessarily.
There are things in this worldthat we face that are not things
that you would normally say.
I'm thankful for this, but I amthankful that when I'm going
through them, that I know thatGod is right there with me, and
then he has promised that hewill never leave me or forsake
me, and I can take that to thebank.
(37:59):
I can have that assurance thathe is working all things out and
I may not see the answers herethis side of heaven, but he's
working all things out.
He is the exact opposite ofscrew tape.
He loves us, he wants the bestfor us, he encourages us, he
inspires us, he comforts us andhe helps us, guiding us to to
(38:26):
make the right decisions and theright choices for a life that
is that will have more peace andhave more joy because we'll be
making the choices that are onesthat will better our life
instead of worse than our life.
So, if that makes sense, I hopethat that's an encouragement,
but I really truly want toencourage people to just start
(38:48):
being intentional and just starthaving that running
conversation with God, if you'venever done it before.
God, what do you want me to seetoday?
What blessing are you going tobring into my life and open my
eyes so that I can see it?
If you want more informationabout how to see Jesus in the
everyday, you can head over tomy website, sherryclawlawcom,
(39:10):
and I have a membership that youcould check out.
It's called Jesus in theEveryday Monthly Membership, and
you will get 365 days ofencouragement and ways to draw
closer to God.
Go over to Kara's website,karaahuntcom, and you can find
out all about her Habacic series, as well as lots of other
(39:33):
wonderful things that she has onher website.
Most importantly, kara and Ijust want to continue to
encourage people to pointthemselves towards God, towards
the one who has the answers,towards the one who encourages,
towards the one who desires thatrelationship with us above all
else.
(39:54):
If you have any questions orprayer requests, head over to
cheeruppodcastcom, drop us aline and we would love to write
back to you.
We would love to connect withyou and just let you know that
you're not alone.
So anyway, if you're interestedin a Twitter space, joining
Kara and I on a Twitter space,either hop over to the Facebook
(40:16):
group, let us know over there,send us an email at
cheeruppodcastgmailcom orcontact us through our website.
Either way, we would love toget it going, but we need to
have at least 10 people.
So keep that in mind, thinkabout it and until then, come
back.
Next week.
We're going to be talking abouthumility, then the past,
(40:39):
present, future and eternity.
I am really excited to seewhere that conversation is going
to go.
Have a great rest of your daytoday, have a wonderful start to
August, and we will talk to younext week.
Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast.
I am your host, kara Hunt, andwith me is the beautiful and
extraordinarily talented SherrySwarwell.
How are you today, sherry?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I am doing great, I am loving life and I have really
this summer just kind of takenthe stance of intentionality, so
being present and intentionalwith what I'm doing when I'm
doing it and not you know thatsounds terrible, because it
sounds like kind of bad if I saynot worrying about the future,
(00:54):
but I mean that in a good waylike not thinking about what I
have to do two months from nowor you know any of that, but
instead just being thankful forwhere God has placed me and
making sure that I takeadvantage of and enjoy the
opportunities that he gives me.
And one of my favoriteopportunities is when I get to
(01:15):
spend the morning with you.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Aww, you're so sweet.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Aww, I'm so grateful.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I you know, for some of our listeners.
Sherry and I have been friendsfor like over a decade now and
it is not abnormal.
We didn't stop ourselves.
We could like be on the phonefor 24 hours, you know, and
still have stuff left tochit-chat about.
But yeah, and it's just awesomethat God has brought us
(01:50):
together, gave us the samevision for this podcast and for
those of you who are just tuningin, we just want to say welcome
to the Cheer Up podcast, whichis based on the verses of the
scripture, john 1633, and Sherrywill be explaining more about
that at the end of the podcast.
(02:12):
But we want to say welcome andthank you so much for joining in
.
This month we are continuing ourdiscussion on the topics of the
book the Screwtape Letters byCS Lewis and, for those who just
(02:35):
may be joining in, it is apiece of classic literature
originally written, I believe,in 1940s, 1941, I think.
Then I think it was publishedagain in 1960.
So it's definitely considered apart of classic literature.
We are not.
We are discussing the topics ofthe book.
(02:56):
We're not necessarily going tobe reading huge passages from
the book.
I may read like one or twopassages from the book, but
we're mostly discussing thetopics of the book, because even
though the book was written inthe 1940s, a lot of the topics
have not changed because of whatit's dealing, how it's talking
(03:18):
about how Satan deals withhumans, basically.
So a lot of that has notchanged and I believe that's one
of the reasons why it's justalways been one of the books
that Christians like to read,because it kind of gives you an
insight view, a kind of behindthe curtain look of how things
(03:40):
works.
Regarding that, for those of youwho would like the book, it's
available almost anywhere.
I do know the Unabridgedversion is available on
audiobook for free if you haveAudible, if you have like Hindu
Audible and I do think it's likeunder, I think, $10 in some
(04:07):
cases on Amazon or somethinglike that if you like digital.
But, of course, if you want thepaperback copy or the hard
copies of the book, those Ithink are available as well.
Let me say paperback.
I don't know if hardback isavailable, but it's definitely
one of those books that are very, very easy to find and you
could be able to find it andlocate it at any of those places
(04:30):
I mentioned, or you could putit in a request at your local
bookstore as well.
So I'm all for supporting localbookstores.
I just wanted to give that aplug real quick.
So, however, the book theScrewtape Letters is about two
(04:51):
demons communicating with eachother.
They are sending Screwtape.
The name of the book is theScrewtape Letters and it's
basically because he's writingletters.
Screwtape is a higher demon,he's a higher a demon and a
higher archie.
He's a higher demon, he's ahigher level demon, and his
(05:13):
nephew is a novice, a new demon,so to speak.
So the title of the book, theScrewtape Letters, refers to the
letters that Uncle Screwtape iswriting to his nephew Wormwood
on how to handle Wormwood'snewly assigned Christian for
humans.
So that's what that's about andour summer series, because we
(05:35):
have been covering these lettersstarting in June, you know, and
it is now.
We have covered letters onethrough eleven.
So this month, for this month,we will be discussing letters
twelve through twenty-one, Ibelieve.
So make sure you tune in everyweek this month, you know, as we
(05:58):
continue to discuss all theletters.
We have 21 letters in theentire book.
So we'll be wrapping this upsometime in September, so we
won't go on forever.
We're calling it the SummerSeries.
Technicute should be the SummerFall Series, but right now
we're just going to call it theScrewtape Letters.
This is what we're doing,discussing during this time
(06:19):
frame and, um, oh, I was goingto say some oh, oh, oh oh.
Okay, now I know what I wasgoing to say For those of you
who are listening, and if youwould like to have a more deeper
discussion about the Screwtapeletters, then let us know, send
us an email at chairupicast atgmailcom and say hey, you know
(06:41):
we would like to.
I've got the book, I purchasedthe book, I read the book or I
knew to the book, but I wouldlike to discuss some of the
topics further.
I have some things I'd like toshare, some thoughts and
comments and commentary.
Then let us know, send us anemail at chairupicast at
gmailcom and say, hey, yes, wewould like to be able to discuss
(07:02):
this with you, know, you andSherry, something like that.
We will open up a Twitter spaceto do so.
If we get at least 10 peoplewho would be interested in doing
something like that, then justsend us an email and say, yes, I
would be interested in joiningyou guys at a Twitter space and
then, once we get at least 10people.
We will share a time and a date.
(07:22):
For that to happen, we wouldneed at least well, we would
need at least 10, but at least10 would be ideal because, for
those of you who are familiarwith Twitter spaces, you're
allowed 10 people are allowed tospeak at one time, but you can
have as many as a million peoplein the space, but only 10 are
allowed to speak at one time.
But we would love to hear yourinput on the series, we would
(07:44):
love to hear your thoughts onthe book, and if you guys are
interested in an open discussion, then just shoot us an email
chairupicastatgmailcom and wewill go ahead and we will get
that started and scheduled.
So, is there anything youwanted to add, sherry, before we
get started?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
No, I think you covered it all.
I'm excited for you know.
You've really made theScrewtaped Letters exciting for
me.
I have always been intimidatedby Lake, shakespeare and the
older classics, and so I tendedto avoid them in my life, and
you've just really made thisseries exciting for me.
(08:21):
So if you can do that for me,then I know that there are lots
and lots of people who love theclassics who I hope, have found
the podcast and are enjoying itjust as much.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Well, thank you, and I honestly wish I could take the
credit for that.
But I think you know youmentioned something my classic
literature was definitelywritten a lot different than
like the stuff we read today.
Right, the language isdifferent, the words they choose
(08:55):
to use are different, you know,and different things like that.
And especially when, likeShakespeare well, at least CF
Lewis I know he's not American,I believe he's British English
or something like that but andthen they use a different type
of words as well.
But classic literature wasdefinitely written in different
ways.
A lot of people find it hard ordifficult to read because it
(09:19):
just I don't think it quiteblows as well as it does with
these.
But CF Lewis did such a greatbook Actually all of his books,
I believe.
You know he's just an awesomeauthor.
He was an awesome author sothat he just had just a
beautiful, beautiful gift ofwriting and he's run, written
(09:42):
lots of novels and fiction andnonfiction books and he was just
really, really great at what hedid.
And I think what just makesthis book in particular so
exciting is because it just isageless and it's very hard to
write something to.
You know, that's ageless,meaning that what was, excuse me
(10:04):
, just as in reverent, relevantback in the 1940s, was relevant
way before the end, 2000 yearsprior, and relevant still today,
and I think that's what justmakes him a master at writing.
So and I remember when I readthis book, maybe a decade or so
(10:26):
ago, when I first read the book,I just I found it so exciting,
but it was also kind of scary,you know, at the same time, to
know that sometimes we are beingmanipulated without even
knowing that we're beingmanipulated spiritually and yeah
, you know, and it was veryeye-opening and because of
today's culture and things thatare going on now and, like I
(10:46):
said, it doesn't even matter,it's just an ageless book, but
anyway, it's in letters 12 and13, which we're going to be
talking about in this episode.
Screw tape as always, unclescrew tape, because he's the
uncle writing the letters to hisnovice nephew Wormwood the new
(11:10):
devil demon, excuse me and he,as always, uncle screw tape, is
just like very agitated andannoyed and frustrated and
disappointed in his nephewWormwood, because he's just
never happy.
Nothing Wormwood does is enoughor good enough or anything, and
(11:30):
so he's just always kind ofdisappointed that he doesn't
take something further enoughwith his assigned human who
happens to be a new Christian,new to the faith, or he missed
an opportunity, and in letters12 through 21 that we'll be
covering this month, it's thesame thing.
(11:53):
He's just very, very upset withhim, you know, because you know
he's just never doing anythingright.
But you know what that justcomes with part of the territory
, right, sherry, when you'reworking for someone who really
doesn't have your best interestat heart at all.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Every time you talk aboutwormwood and screw tape, that's
what I think about.
I think how there's that lie inthere, that there's that
deception that they're for you.
Evil is for you.
Evil is good, but you willnever make evil happy and you
will never please evil, andthere's nothing even remotely
(12:35):
associated with love, with evil.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yes, and it's right.
And so it's like when you getinto association with people or
things like that.
Now, in this case it'sspiritual.
So if wormwood was a personbefore he died, like screw
tape's actual nephew, and hedied, went to hell I mean, his
bed is made for him right now.
It's nothing he can do.
He can do about it, right, andhe's there, but it just goes to
(13:01):
show you that you know peoplewho would always say, oh, heaven
is boring, I'd rather go tohell.
There's a lot of stuff going ondown there.
Well, just don't think it'sgoing to be anything different.
You're just going to betortured and lied to and still
being manipulated.
Probably you know.
So you know, you eventuallystart keeping company with those
(13:23):
people you hang around.
And so in this case, from uncleto nephew, uncle screw tape to
nephew wormwood, nothing, it'sthe same thing, right?
And in letter 12, which istitled, which is really just the
topic is about nothing, unclescrew tape, nothing.
(13:45):
As in uncle screw tape wantshis nephew wormwood to teach his
human about the art of nothing.
You know, it's like he's new.
Uncle screw tape is tellingwormwood your human is new to
the Christian faith.
(14:06):
You're already about that tohappen, you know, and everything
else.
So now we got to go aboutfixing that to make sure that we
keep him on a straight path tohell, you know, and everything
else.
And so he keep.
But he tells screw tape.
Screw tape tells his nephewwormwood that to just keep it
slow and steady is that he wantshim to do that by doing nothing
(14:33):
in quotation marks and havingthe Christian, his new male
Christian, who I think is inabout his 30s to focus on
absolutely nothing, to get hismind to think about nothing, and
that that that is what hisletter to wormwood is about.
And just a small quote fromthere.
(14:53):
He just says this is screw tape, uncle, screw tape, to his
nephew wormwood, both humandemons and they're referring to
wormwood's newly assignedChristian and screw tape says
nothing is nothing.
The word nothing, nothing, isvery strong.
It is strong enough to stealaway a man best years not in
(15:16):
sweet sins, but in a drearyflickering of the mind over it,
knows not what and knows not why, and the gratification of
curiosity so feeble that the manis only half aware of them, and
drumming of fingers and kickingup heels and whistling tunes
that he does not like, or in along, dim labyrinth of reveries
(15:36):
that have not even lust orambition to give them a relish,
but which, once chanceassociation has started them,
the creature is too weak andfuddled to shake off.
You will say, wormwood, thatthese are very small sins, and
doubtless they are like allyoung tempters.
You're anxious to be able toreport spectacular wickedness.
But remember the only thingthat matters is the extent to
(15:59):
which you separate the man fromGod.
It does not matter how smallthe sins are, provided that
their cumulative effect is toedge the man away from the light
and out into nothing.
When you do this, murder is nobetter than cards, if cards can
do the trick.
Indeed, the safest road to hellis the gradual one, the gentle
(16:20):
slope, soft underfoot, withoutsudden turnings, without
milestones, without signposts.
Your affectionate uncle's screwtape.
So I hope that makes sense.
I had to switch a few thingsaround in there so that it
wouldn't be, as I'm sharing partof the book on the other
podcast, that you won't getconfused, because I had to
(16:41):
change the word enemy to God inthere, because that's literally
who he's talking about, becauseyou have to remember he uncle
screw tape is a demon.
So when he first did enemy he'sreally burning to God, so that
it wouldn't be confusing.
You know, to listen to thepodcast I was having to switch
you know a few words around orwhatnot, just to make it clear.
It's a lot clearer when youread it, but not so much when
(17:04):
you listen to it if you haven'tread the book before.
But what I find interestingthere is how he talks about how,
if one would get his newlyassigned Christian's mind to
think about nothing, how strongthat is, and how I could flick
away a man's best years, notnecessarily in sense, but just
in the dreariness of thinking ofnothing, just having them drum
(17:28):
their nails on the table orkicking their heels or just
whistling a tune, how that islike ample fertile ground for
Satan to place thoughts in aChristian's mind.
What do you think about that,sherry?
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I think that it's very telling, kind of like you
said when you started readingthis book when you were younger,
that it scared you.
There's a lot of truth in justa few words.
Not that playing cards is wrong, but when you are, not, that
(18:07):
you know like it's not supposedto be taken from a legalistic
point of view or a legalisticstandpoint.
When earrings isn't wrong,having your hair done isn't
wrong, those types of things.
But when you drink the drink ofidleness, it does open you up
to different thoughts that canbecome sin, different ideas when
(18:38):
you sit there and you allow.
See, there's a difference forme between nothing and sitting
in quiet with God when you're ohthat's not what Screwtape was
talking about, though.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, oh right, exactly that's what.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
I mean when you focus on the Heavenly Father and when
you focus on worship and whenyou focus on just spending time
with your Creator.
That can still be quiet but,it's not nothing that allows the
Holy Spirit to speak into yourlife, but when you sit there
(19:16):
with a blank slate, then you'reallowing either the Holy Spirit
or the enemy to put thoughtsinto plant thoughts and lies in
your head, and that's when itgets into the dangerous ground.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Absolutely, and thank you.
I remember growing up I wouldget chest eyes sometimes like
about that.
I can't remember which familymember would do it, but I was a
child and it was like you know,I guess maybe I was staring off
into space or something.
(19:52):
I have no idea.
It's highly possible I was oneof those kids that just was
staring out the window orsomething, and I can't remember
which family member was olderfamily member.
Oh, you know, you need to dosomething.
Don't let your mind just beempty.
I don't know if this is thedevil's playground or the
devil's workshop or things likethat.
(20:13):
And as a child you don't reallythink much about it, right?
You're like, oh, here goesthese older people again with
all these things you know andeverything else.
But as you get older you dorealize that if your mind is not
focused on God or godly things,then it is so easy for the
enemy to plant something in yourmind.
It is.
(20:34):
You know, you could just besitting there and you could just
be tired.
You could just come home fromwork and you could just have
just plopped down on the couchand you're like I don't want to
think about anything.
I am so mentally tired, mybrain is tired, and you'd be
surprised all of a sudden,something that when your
co-workers say it, but earlierthat day, just starts to grate
(20:56):
on you.
It didn't bother you too muchat the time, but once you came
home and you plopped on thecouch and kind of laid your head
back against it and you're justthinking, you're like you know
what?
Did she say?
What I just think she said.
I didn't pay attention to itearlier, but now that I think
about it I'm really gettingupset about it.
Like she didn't have to saythat, she didn't have to do that
(21:18):
.
He didn't have to put it to methat way.
Or did she snatch that paperfrom my hand when I handed her
that file?
Do you see what I mean?
It's like all of a suddenyou're like I don't want to
think about nothing, but thenall these little things that you
previously didn't give anycredence to they start playing
back in your mind.
Have you ever had that happento you, sherry?
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Absolutely.
In fact, there's nothing Ithink that Satan loves more than
when you're having adisagreement with somebody or a
conflict of some kind and I knowthis used to happen to me a lot
until I really learned how totake my thought captive.
But I would do washing thedishes or I would be cleaning
(21:59):
the house Something that ismindless, baking those types of
things and I would replayconversations over and over and
over in my head and I would stewon them and I would get madder
and madder and I would feel moreand more justified that I was
right and they were wrong.
And how dare they?
And yeah, I think that Satanlooks at those things and says,
(22:25):
oh my gosh, how easy this personmade it so, how easy Sherry
made it, so that I canmanipulate her mind and I can
help her plant seeds ofbitterness or plant seeds of
unforgiveness, or help her learnhow to hold a grudge, all of
those different things.
And so I have learned formyself that when I'm going to do
(22:50):
something mindless, thatespecially baking like baking is
my relaxation, my go-to, myenjoyment, and if I'm going to
do something like that, I willput on worship music so that
when my mind wanders, it'swandering to good things, and
it's a time that I'm invitingthe Holy Spirit to speak to me
(23:11):
instead of simply letting mymind go where it wants to go,
because, as a human, it's ninetimes out of 10 going to go
places that it shouldn't go, andI don't want to be that person.
I don't want to give Satan afoothold and I don't want to
(23:33):
give him the satisfaction thathe's got me.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yes, and that actually leads into letter 13.
I'm sorry, letter 12, which, no, I'm right, letter 13.
Sorry, letter 12 was just aboutnothing, mindless, nothing, and
exactly what Sherry was talkingabout.
But you could be doingsomething simple as washing
(23:57):
dishes and just having thosethings replay in your mind and
things like that.
And then in letter 13, he is.
I'm sorry, yeah, letter 13,.
He screw tape is like upset nowwith Wormwood again, because
he's always upset with hisnovice nephew, you know, because
he's like right, you just don'tget it Because somehow now
(24:22):
Uncle Screwtape has found outthat the human, the Christian,
the human that was assigned toWormwood, who's a Christian, has
now realized his mentalidleness in a way right, and
he's kind of repented of it andhe's just like, okay, wait, what
, what was I doing, you know?
So he started like Wormwoodkind of lost his grip on the
(24:44):
patient because, excuse me, inthe book it first was the
patient, but it's his newChristian human that he's been
assigned to.
And he's just like, wait, what?
Like how did you let him becomeaware of his you know spiritual
adriftness and how you wereleading him adrift of what he
(25:06):
was supposed to be doing?
And now somehow he's awakenedfrom that.
He's kind of repented from thatand everything else, like how,
how in the world did you letthis happen?
But all is not lost, right?
This is what Uncle Screwtape istelling his nephew Wormwood.
All is not lost, all theselittle simple pleasures that he
now has found, that he's justtrying to to find out, you know,
(25:30):
and his new feelings andeverything is, and him just
taking little personal pleasureslike looking at the birds or
whatever.
It's basically what he's, youknow, talking about.
But he's like you know, all isnot lost because we can still
keep him from acting on his newfeelings of like true repentance
, you know, and excuse me, ofrepentance and being aware of
(25:52):
that his mind was just driftingAnything good at this point.
Uncle Screwtape wants anythinggood and that the man finds
pleasurable, no matter how smallit is.
Uncle Screwtape wants hisnephew Wormwood to eradicate
(26:13):
them from the new Christianhuman he's been assigned to.
He just wants him to starthaving a sour taste in his mouth
.
He just wants it to be like youknow what is the matter Like I
used to just enjoy going for awalk now.
I don't want to.
I feel thoughtful about it.
(26:34):
It's raining out, the sky isn'tas bright as it used to be, the
sun's night is shining, theflower's on is pretty, you know.
He just wants him to be, Iguess, a little bit more
critical of the things that heused to find pleasurable.
And when I think back over mylife, I'm like you know what.
There's many times where I thinkI have a lot that have to
(26:55):
happen, where it's somethingthat I found just pure joy in
pure, clean joy.
In All of a sudden it's like,yeah, I don't care for that
anymore and I didn't really knowwhy, and I was shrugged off
right and not knowing that thatcould just be a tactic of the
enemy to steal away thosebeautiful little things, those
gifts that God gives us everyday in nature or, you know, in
(27:17):
our life, to just say, hey, lookwhat I did for you, or hey, I'm
winking at you, I just want youto see these beautiful sunrise
or things like that.
And then, or something assimple as a walk, right, and or
even something as simple as rain.
You know, I think we need to goback like we were when we were
kids Well, some of us, you know,when we were kids and it would
(27:42):
rain and we saw this opportunityto go outside and play, we
didn't care about getting wet.
right, it was yay, water, rainfrom the sky, you know, natural,
uh, waterfall or whatever.
And you just go outside, youplay, you make mud pies, you
know and everything and you know.
But then you come as an adult,you're like ah, it's raining, I
(28:03):
don't want to go outside.
Has anything ever like thatever happened to you?
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Sherry, absolutely, and I think that's kind of what
I was talking about when wefirst started the episode today,
and that is staying intentional, staying present, looking
around and being grateful forwhat I have, and I have lived so
much.
I think we talked about thislast month I don't remember
(28:27):
exactly which episode it was butwe were talking about how I
used to live with the attitudeof, well, I'm going to get to
the promised land and when I getthere it's going to be milk and
honey and I'm going to sit anddrink my coffee and life is
going to be fantastic.
Well then, god woke me up andgrew me up and matured me up,
and that's not the way that lifegoes, and so I've had to kind
(28:50):
of like step back, take off thepolyanac glasses and just say
you know what?
There is a lot of joy and a lotof good to be found, even as
I'm wandering the desert.
I don't want to be wandering thedesert, so I want to do
everything I can to get out ofthe desert as fast as I can, but
there's joy in the journey andhe literally had to take years
(29:10):
to teach me that and I hate toadmit it, but there have been
seasons in my life, evenrecently, where I've forgotten
that truth that there's joy tobe found no matter what season
I'm in.
And this summer I kind of justtried to be more intentional.
And you know, last summer I hadexperienced burnout and so I
(29:32):
was kind of like doing less andtrying to just be present with
God more.
And I noticed that, like myyoungest and I were used to take
walks every single morning, andespecially in June, looking
back, I noticed that June wasthe most enjoyable because it
was cooler temperatures, thehumidity hadn't set in, the
(29:56):
mosquitoes hadn't arrived, thecorn and the crops hadn't grown
to the point where we couldn'tsee the little animals anymore.
You had the big expanses of thefield, so you could see possums,
you could see fox, you couldsee raccoons, you could see the
deer, and then, as the corn andthe crops grew, those got more
(30:18):
hidden.
But even the sounds of thebirds, the music, I mean, like I
noticed so many differentsounds and so many different
colors of the birds.
And so this year, going into it, I had that the joy from last
year, and I was like, oh, we'regoing to walk every single day
and we're going to do this andwe're going to do that, and it's
just going to be amazing, justlike it was.
(30:40):
Well, this summer didn't quiteturn out the way that last
summer did.
There were more health issues,there were more.
The schedule was a littledifferent.
So we didn't get to walk fivedays a week like I wanted to.
We didn't do as much of a.
I should say it lookeddifferent than it looked last
year and you know what?
It has been just as enjoyable.
(31:01):
I have found that I'm not like,okay, I'm a failure because I
didn't walk five days this week.
No, I'm not a failure, I walkedthree days this week.
It was intentional and I lovedevery single minute of it, you
know.
So it's just little things likethat.
But I think that if we justmake that little mind shift,
that little shift in ourthinking, it makes such a huge
(31:25):
difference.
And God is an out there with aI don't know Like a sword, I
don't know what you want to evencall it, but God's not out
there waiting to punish us.
He's not out there saying youdidn't thank me today for the
indigo bunting that I broughtinto your yard.
No, he's like ah, she missedthat indigo bunny today.
(31:46):
I wonder if I can give it toher tomorrow.
I wonder if she'll see ittomorrow.
You know, he, he, he gives usso many different opportunities
to praise him, so I think I wantto encourage people with that
today, kara.
People like me, will sometimesput a little too much pressure
on themselves.
But why don't you today, ortake this month, since it's the
(32:06):
beginning of of August, whydon't we take this month and
just invite God into oureveryday, all day conversation?
Just say, hey God, good morning, thank you for waking me up
today.
What do you want to show metoday?
Open my eyes and draw myattention to the gifts and the
blessings that you want to giveme.
(32:27):
Do that indigo bunting.
And if you don't know what theyare, they're beautiful.
I did not know my bird until ouryoungest educated me and I got
to tell you this year, thissummer, he has shown me they're
called dick sizzles.
They are beautiful, oh my gosh.
They're like yellow with eithergray or like a greenish color.
(32:49):
I can't remember exactly.
Beautiful birds, oh, beautiful,no-transcript birding.
And we were going down thisroad and we could hear them.
Like he showed me what thesound was or he had me listen to
the sound and so I knew I could.
I couldn't hear him, I couldpick him out and knew that they
were there, but we couldn't seeany.
Turned my head and it was righton the fence post, right next
(33:11):
to my side of the car.
I mean like plain as day rightthere just like a picture and I
was like thank you, God.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
And so he was able to fix that.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
So, just like little things like that, just I
encourage you and I want to Iwant to not challenge, I want to
encourage people this month tojust start a running
conversation with God and saywhat is it, God, that you want
to show me today?
How do you want me to beintentional and what do you want
to show me?
And maybe you hate birds, Maybebirds are not your thing.
(33:41):
Maybe you love cars, Maybe Godwants to show you a car today
that that you know it's reallyawesome.
I don't know, Hemmy car, Idon't know even what, what kind
of car things there are.
But maybe, God, maybe you lovecars.
But whatever it is, I just knowthat we have a God who loves us
so much and is so personal thathe wants to have that
(34:02):
relationship with you in the waythat speaks loudest to you.
So that's my encouragement topeople today.
Kara, do you have anything thatyou want to say before we wrap
it up?
Speaker 1 (34:15):
No, well, I always say no and then I add something.
But as you were talking aboutthis month and just being
grateful at the things that Godshows us in with his wonderful
creatures, just yesterday myhusband came in and he was
talking about how he saw a hugegopher.
He was in a backyard, I believehe saw a huge gopher and
(34:37):
immediately I just kind of wentinto panic mode because and
please don't laugh, okay, Iassume I in my mind I don't know
the difference Um, I, I getconfused a gopher and a mole.
So when he said huge gopher, Iwas thinking, oh my goodness,
you know, that's that mole thatdigs holes or tunnels in your
(34:58):
yard and you know there's sohard to get rid of.
And I just panic and I'mthinking, you know?
And then when he corrected meon it, he's like but no, a
gopher is not a mole.
So thank you all for notlaughing, but uh, it's still.
I was just like ew ick, agopher, you know.
And I'm thinking why would I saythat?
Why would I do that about God'screatures, you know?
(35:19):
And I'm like what?
What I should do is learn moreabout golfers and just see how
God has created them to bless usCause I put everything that God
has created.
There's a reason for it, and soI just want to be thankful for
this.
I'm glad that you mentionedthat, instead of having that
factor regarding it, just belike God.
Why, why did you create golfers?
(35:39):
What did I pour you know how dothey bless you, know humanity
and everything like that.
So that's a great idea, sherry.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Well, I love that care that you brought it even
fuller circle, because, yes, Ihave a tendency to have that um
need jerk reaction and I say ewa lot more like ew, not um, a
lot more than I want to, andthat's another thing that I'm
really working on that, insteadof allowing that, that first one
time gut reaction, I need tostop and say, okay, what is it
(36:12):
about this?
Ew is not the right response,so let me let me have a better
response.
So, god, what do you want toteach me through this?
I love that.
Yes, as Carol was saying, thepodcast um centers around the
verse John 16 33 and it's Jesustalking and he says these things
(36:33):
I have spoken to you that in meyou may have peace In the world
.
You will have tribulation orgopher or spiders or six.
Yes, yes, yes, the year I haveovercome the world.
What encouragement and what umassurance that we have.
But there is nothing that weface that God isn't in charge of
(36:56):
, that God is not in control of,and that we don't have to worry
.
He has really been teaching melately that, even when I don't
get the answer that I want, Ican trust him with the answer
that I get because he's workingall things out for good in the
background and I may not see himworking, but that doesn't mean
(37:17):
he isn't in.
That all goes back to thatintentionality of living
intentionally and live, livingin the present and being
grateful for the stage, theseason, the circumstances that
I'm in right now.
That doesn't mean that I haveto be thankful for pain or
thankful for grief or thankfulfor tough.
(37:38):
Necessarily.
There are things in this worldthat we face that are not things
that you would normally say.
I'm thankful for this, but I amthankful that when I'm going
through them, that I know thatGod is right there with me, and
then he has promised that hewill never leave me or forsake
me, and I can take that to thebank.
(37:59):
I can have that assurance thathe is working all things out and
I may not see the answers herethis side of heaven, but he's
working all things out.
He is the exact opposite ofscrew tape.
He loves us, he wants the bestfor us, he encourages us, he
inspires us, he comforts us andhe helps us, guiding us to to
(38:26):
make the right decisions and theright choices for a life that
is that will have more peace andhave more joy because we'll be
making the choices that are onesthat will better our life
instead of worse than our life.
So, if that makes sense, I hopethat that's an encouragement,
but I really truly want toencourage people to just start
(38:48):
being intentional and just starthaving that running
conversation with God, if you'venever done it before.
God, what do you want me to seetoday?
What blessing are you going tobring into my life and open my
eyes so that I can see it?
If you want more informationabout how to see Jesus in the
everyday, you can head over tomy website, sherryclawlawcom,
(39:10):
and I have a membership that youcould check out.
It's called Jesus in theEveryday Monthly Membership, and
you will get 365 days ofencouragement and ways to draw
closer to God.
Go over to Kara's website,karaahuntcom, and you can find
out all about her Habacic series, as well as lots of other
(39:33):
wonderful things that she has onher website.
Most importantly, kara and Ijust want to continue to
encourage people to pointthemselves towards God, towards
the one who has the answers,towards the one who encourages,
towards the one who desires thatrelationship with us above all
else.
(39:54):
If you have any questions orprayer requests, head over to
cheeruppodcastcom, drop us aline and we would love to write
back to you.
We would love to connect withyou and just let you know that
you're not alone.
So anyway, if you're interestedin a Twitter space, joining
Kara and I on a Twitter space,either hop over to the Facebook
(40:16):
group, let us know over there,send us an email at
cheeruppodcastgmailcom orcontact us through our website.
Either way, we would love toget it going, but we need to
have at least 10 people.
So keep that in mind, thinkabout it and until then, come
back.
Next week.
We're going to be talking abouthumility, then the past,
(40:39):
present, future and eternity.
I am really excited to seewhere that conversation is going
to go.
Have a great rest of your daytoday, have a wonderful start to
August, and we will talk to younext week.
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