The Screwtape Letters: Wormwood

I have no intention of explaining how the correspondence which I now offer to the public fell into my hands.

 That was a line from The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.

About eight years ago, I released the Wormwood Duology. In these two crime thrillers, Wormwood is a disease that only affects pedophiles and makes them die a slow, painful death.

Readers often ask me how I came up with the name Wormwood.

Well, it comes, The Screwtape Letters, a satirical work by C.S. Lewis published in full in 1942. It is a collection of letters written by a demon, named Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood.

Wormwood is a tempter tasked with influencing “the patient,” which is a man whose name we never learn, toward Hell.

In the letters, Screwtape offers his nephew advice on how to tempt humans away from God, whom he says is the Enemy, and bring them into hell.

The letters open with Screwtape reprimanding Wormwood for a rookie mistake.

Wormwood chose to focus on an argument with the man over distraction. Screwtape explains that distraction is key to the corruption of souls.

Screwtape teaches Wormwood that effective distraction rarely requires overt sin; rather, it involves carefully diverting attention from reality, truth and the present moment through busyness, trivialities, and noise.

Think about that.

Although The Screwtape Letters were published in 1942, the key distractions could have been written today. They include wasting time on aimless pursuits, obsessing over future uncertainties or past regrets, and drowning out silence with constant noise to prevent reflection.

Is this happening today?

To quote Screwtape: the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy [which is God]. 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.

The Screwtape Letters may have been written in 1942 but they could have been written today.

  One of my favourite quotes from the books is:

“Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.”

 C.S. Lewis wasn’t just the author; he was a clairvoyant.

Operation Wormwood and it’s conclusion, The Reckoning is available at Amazon, Indigo and here.