THE LOST LETTERS
OLUGBENGA JOSEPH
Here lies a pair of letters reported to have been torn from a devil’s handbook. These writings were composed
by the crafty demon known as Screwtape, who makes his unforgettable debut in The Screwtape Letters by C.S.
Lewis. These letters, like the ones before them, shed light on the enigmatic essence of human nature, as well as
the fragility of the human heart. Among other things, these Lost Letters illustrate how Tempters, like Screwtape
and his nephew Wormwood, succeed in bending the will of man to that of their own.
Let the chaos commence.
MY DEAR WORMWOOD,
I take it that you still haven’t the faintest idea of what you
are to be doing. This, however, is not a striking revelation
that I happened to acquire from Our Father Below. Rather,
the string of nonsensical narratives that I have received from
you recently has only confirmed my suspicions.
In your last letter, for instance, you made mention of a
certain pastor who seems to have won—or so you claim—
the affection of your patient’s beloved. As you describe in
detail, the young, unmarried man is the scum of the earth.
His character is tainted with all of the (forbidden) Fruits of
the Spirit–Love, Joy, Peace, Forbearance, and Faithfulness–
that are so often associated with the Enemy [1]. In fact,
that vile creature is so far gone into the Enemy’s camp
that he has prostituted his own will for that of his Creator’s.
Instead of filling his prayers with selfish desires, his mantra
has become “Let not my will, but Yours be done” [2]. This
monster has spread the twisted rhetoric of the Enemy so
frequently, and so fervently, that his church services have
attracted even the likes of your patient and his filthy female
companion.
What’s worse, still, is the Tempter that has been assigned
to his care.
I have done my research on this fellow, Wormwood, and
have been terrified with my findings. Bellyall, the poor fool,
seems to be as inconsequential a Tempter as you are. In the
same way that Bellyall has failed to pluck those seductive
seeds (of love, faithfulness, peace et. al) from his patient
before they germinated into firm fruit, you, too, have failed
to use this opportunity to capitalize on your own little
experiment. Know you nothing of the Twin Virtues that have
led to the downfall of so many men? Or, were you simply
“on leave” from the Tempter’s Training College when the
professors lectured on Envy and Jealousy?
In any case, allow me to refresh your memory.
It may surprise you that I describe Envy and Jealousy as
two distinct entities. And, yes, while we have succeeded in
training humans to ignore the subtle—and yet significant—
difference between the two terms, the distinction still
remains clear. In simplest terms, Envy exists when Person
B is embittered by what Person A has. A’s possession could
be any number of things: extreme wealth, keen intelligence,
an agreeable face. The source of the Envy, however, is
entirely irrelevant to us. What we are concerned with,
my dear Wormwood, is how we can use B’s resentment
towards A’s possessions to carry out the purposes of Our
Father Below—to steal, to kill, and to destroy [3].
Jealousy, on the other hand, is a game with three players.
It occurs when B and A are enamored of each other, but
B feels threatened by the presence of a third party, C. To
name it, B is afraid of losing A’s “love” to C, and is thus
GIVE HIM EVERY REASON TO BELIEVE
THAT THE WOMAN’S INTEREST IN
THE PASTOR IS MORE EROTIC THAN
PLATONIC, MORE CARNAL THAN FILIAL.
“jealous” of C. So what distinguishes Envy from Jealousy?
As some of the brighter humans have determined, Envy is
merely the coveting of something that belongs to someone
else. Meanwhile, Jealousy is one’s fear of losing a rightful
possession (perceived or otherwise) to someone else. The
distinction between Jealousy and Envy is important. They
are not one and the same; rather, they are opposite sides
of the same coin. Together, they combine to form the Twin
Virtues.
This word—“virtue”—suggests that we can exploit these
devices for our own benefit. And we do, my dear nephew.
We do. Prior to the arrival of that girl, the only woman your
patient has had a long term relationship with was his mother.
This is not an issue to glance over. Use his insecurity about
[1] Galatians 5:2223. Bible. New
International Version
[2] Luke 22:42
[3] John 10:10
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