The Perils Of Monotonous Stability

C. S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters,” is succinctly summed up by Cliffsnotes: “By showing the devils’ tactics for corrupting human souls, the novel demonstrates how to (and not to) lead a good Christian life.”

The book is an interesting read to say the least.  It is written in the form of letters from a senior devil to his fledgling devil nephew.  Each letter covers different ways to keep a patient from becoming a good Christian.  I pick it up from time to time and reread it.

During a recent re-read I got to reflecting on Letter 28.  It has Screwtape advising his nephew Wormwood to keep his “patient” out of harm’s way.  Screwtape tells Wormwood that the current state of grace the patient is in means that the perils of war run the risk of losing the man to death and Heaven.  Time and the “long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity,” Screwtape tells Wormwood, are a more promising situation for temptation than the immediacy of perils during wartime.

The Inevitability of Death

Thankfully, I have now passed through those middle-aged years to the status of “Senior.” But in so doing I found that the dull monotony of middle age is sometimes replaced by a sense of mortality.  This occasionally brings to mind Samuel Johnson’s comment “Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”

Sometimes, yes. But only sometimes. We are not really built to live constantly with the awareness of mortality.  It is inhibiting and depressing.  Yet for many years art and architecture included “memento mori” features.  These are reminders of the inevitability of death, most commonly with a skull, often with bones.

That practice has faded from our modern American lives, and I cannot find anything in myself to regret it. I get enough reminders of my mortality from creaking joints, aching bones, and the accumulated physical damage of 71 years of clumsiness.

Bits of Memento Mori

We do still have bits of memento mori preserved in a diluted and commercialized form in Halloween. Those of us living in states that border Mexico may also be familiar with the Halloween-adjacent Mexican festival Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.   In it more raw form it is exhibited by the sugar skulls, bread bones and other features.  Both days, however, are connected to the Christian All Saints Day (and the less commonly remembered Feast of All Souls).

But instead of memento mori, we now have the “culture of death” as described by St. John Paul II in The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae).  I wrote before that I could not find anything in myself to regret the loss of memento mori.  Taken as an artistic trope I remain comfortable with having said this. But if losing this uncomfortable presence in our art and architecture has provided a place for the ugly and sinful elements of such things as euthanasia, abortion, assisted suicide, I might be persuaded to change my mind.

It makes me wonder. Could it be that our abandonment of the seemingly morbid reminders of death that were once an expected element in art have left us more open to hosting and even encouraging death? Has liberating ourselves from the specter of our own future mortality somehow made us more willing to accept and even promote death for others?

When Hell Ran Loose On Earth

I find myself thinking back to one of those times when Hell did seem to run loose on earth. In the 1930s the Nazi phrase “Lebens unwertes Lebe“ (life unworthy of life) became the foundation of policies that led from the elimination of physical and mental “defectives.“ It also led to the Holocaust and its wholesale murder of Jews, Gypsies, and others, along with the enslavement of Slavs and other “untermenschen”.

The common element here is the dulling of moral sensibility.  Whether the dulling comes from monotony, age, ideology, or the incessant pounding of popular media, is hard to say.  Maybe it it is due to the overt propaganda or the clamor of the non-stop entertainment to which so many of us seem to be addicted.

Regardless, it is a small enough step from losing the fear of death to losing the fear of judgement.

Fear is not a healthy motivator, especially over the long term. It tends to lead people to resentment and then to rebellion. Unhealthy fears can cripple us, barring us from many of the duties and pleasures of life.

At the same time, proper fear pretects us from very real dangers. A healthy fear of heights prevents us from playing carelessly on the edge of a cliff.  So, too, a healthy fear of being bitten prevents us from playing with spiders or venomous snakes.

Fortunately, the Resurrection is the sovereign remedy for all sorts of fear. This is, of course, as long as we have not lost ourselves in sin and rebellion.

The Dangers Of Comfort

And this, of course, is the danger of complacent comfort, monotony and years of undisturbed routine. We tend to think of sin and rebellion as being hot – energetic, dynamic, and even exciting.  But we do not always see the paradox.  Lethargy or complacency or any of the lukewarm or even cold conditions can be as full of sin and rebellion.  The lukewarm can easily become the fiery heat of adultery or the dramatic posturing of overt revolt.

Lent begins on February 14 this year, presenting the romantics among us with an interesting set of choices.  Do we take our beloved out to a wonderful dinner with our foreheads dusted with ashes? Or should we give priority to penance and preparation for Easter? (I personally intend to “translate“ Valentine’s Day to the preceding weekend.)

Setting aside that occasion for cognitive dissonance, I think that for Lent this year I may take a different tack.  I may spend time in preparing for Reconciliation by focusing on the sins indigenous to maturity and stability.  This would be the lukewarm and cool rebellions of middle and older ages when energy has been replaced with complacent self-satisfaction.

Your Lenten Journey

If you are just beginning to think about your own Lenten discipline or have not yet done so, you might consider reading The Screwtape Letters. There are 31 letters – 32 if you include “Screwtape Proposes A Toast“ (included with most editions). You cannot cover all of the days of Lent, but a little creativity can manage to fill those gaps.

Whatever you choose, I wish you a holy Lent. I also wish you God’s protection against the “long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity.”

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, protect us from the perils of comfort and complacency, and make us ever mindful of our need to place you before us in every moment of our lives, no matter how long or short they may be. And for giving us the grace to use what days we have to their full measure, we give you all our thanks and gratitude.
AMEN