The Pressure of the Ordinary

Have you guys heard of "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis? It is a book written in the form of a series of letters between a "demon-in-training" and his boss in Hell. I realize it sounds a little strange or frightening, but it is absolutely full of insights on human nature and our daily life with Christ.

I read it years ago, but being here in Europe has brought it back to my mind recently. Of course, of course, there are unbelievers everywhere, but I have just been struck by the number of "good people" around me who seem to have no interest in God or finding out more about Him. For better or worse, in the Bible belt I feel like every citizen is confronted with Christianity in many forms and fashions everyday- from billboards to T.V. evangelists and bumper stickers. But here, if I weren't a believer it would be much easier to pass the entire day without thinking about God. People pursue happiness in the form of good relationships with family and friends, providing financially for their family and giving to others- all good things, but none of them really the point in the end.
 C.S. Lewis really emphasizes the fact that Satan doesn't necessarily need to tempt us to do something evil to sin; he just needs to show us anything (no matter how ordinary) that will take our eyes off God.

Here are a few quotes from "The Screwtape Letters" -' this is a demon talking to another demon on how to keep a Christian from growing and maturing in Christ- the Enemy' is God in these quotes.


Remember, he is not, like you, a pure spirit. Never having been a human (Oh that abominable advantage of the Enemy's) you don't realize how enslaved they are to the pressure of the ordinary.”

It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

Humans are amphibians...half spirit and half animal...as spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time, means to change. Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation--the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks.

I have just been thinking about this use of everyday nonsense to crowd out voice of the Holy Spirit a lot lately as I talk with international friends. I pray that God will use me and other people around them to help them to see past the "pressure of the ordinary" and find the Creator and Savior!