The Screwtape Letters

One of my favorite authors is C.S. Lewis. I've read much of what he has written. Not all. But right now I'm re-reading The Screwtape Letters. If you haven't, you must. You really must. Such well-written insight into the mind of Satan (and, by contrast, God).

So many good quotes in there. So many great concepts. The senior devil, Screwtape, tells his nephew, Wormwood, that, while demons want to make humans into slaves so they can become food, God wants to make them into servants so they can become sons. He talks of how God does His best work when we are at our lowest. So very true. But early on I came across this phenomenal quote. Screwtape tells Wormwood:

Our cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.

Think about that for a moment. That speaks of a changed heart, not driven by emotion but truth, not thriving merely on reward but on reality. It speaks of the blessing of duty. And, I suppose, I appreciate it because I've been there ... and likely will be again.