Screwtape, Undulation and the Pied Piper

Hi Mom,

I'm so glad that you are reading the Screwtape Letters. I hope you are "enjoying" it? Enjoy is perhaps not the right word because when I've read the Screwtape Letters it really made me uncomfortable. Not because the writing wasn't superb and as I've stated before Lewis'  ability to wield allegory is like no other author I've ever read. I just find myself so thoughtful.

This past week or so I've been an interesting combination of thoughtful and distracted. It feels like I will make improvement in one area of my life and so little fires or crises pop up in other areas that command my attention. With the distraction comes a detachment of sorts. I start to feel like I'm floundering in my faith.

Lewis calls this "The Law of Undulation." In his eighth letter to Wormwood, we learn from Screwtape that the patient, after his conversion to Christianity and prolonged period of faithfulness, is starting to slip in his devotion. Wormwood of course is ecstatic at this, but Screwtape warns him to get his head on straight and not celebrate too much (apparently the demons have learned moderation?) This falling away, Screwtape tells Wormwood, might not be indicative of the patient's falling away but instead be a natural part of the life of faith. Screwtape writes,

"Humans are amphibians-half spirit and half animal (The Enemy’s determination to produce such a revolting hybrid was one of the things that determined Our Father to withdraw his support from Him.)…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."

Lewis is telling us that it is natural for humans to go through ups and downs. In fact, Lewis suggests that it’s necessary for us to approach the constancy which we will fully participate in when we’re outside of time. Understanding the law of undulation is a tremendous advantage for us. Every rise in joy does not mean we’ve finally triumphed nor does every fall mean we’re in a crisis of faith that requires a re-evaluation of everything. Stress and doubt are powerful tools Screwtape can use to discourage us. Screwtape goes more into how the devil can use the law of undulation for his purposes in the next letter,  but he does tell us in this letter how Heavenly Father uses trials to further his plan both the "Big" plan and the individual plan He has for each of His children.

"Now it may surprise you to learn that in His efforts to get permanent possession of a soul, He relies on the trough even more than on the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else…It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the prayer offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best…Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round on a universe from which every trace of Him has vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."

I've been experiencing quite a bit of that "undulation" lately. However I think it's important to remember and this is something that I've been learning more concretely is that when I feel low and foresaken, its never because He has left me alone. It's taken me a long time to fully understand that our Savior, Jesus Christ, always builds us up and never tears us down. We should apply the power of that example in the ways we use our time, including our recreation and diversions. Consider the themes of the books, magazines, movies, television, and music we make popular by our patronage. Do the purposes and actions portrayed in our chosen entertainment build up or tear down the children of God? This is something that I have been thinking a lot about. I have seen a strong trend to displace what builds up and dignifies the children of God with portrayals and performances that are depressing, demeaning, and destructive. It scares me Mom, because these are the very things that intrigue and entice my children. I've been praying with everything that is in me lately that Heavenly Father will soften their hearts and remind them of the things they have been taught. I've also been pleading for opportunities to open the doors of conversation so that we can discuss these things in a way that educates and enlightens without pushing them further toward the forbidden.



I think that is one of the biggest challenges we face today as members of His church. Truth, Beauty, and Goodness may do well to show people that there is a God, but when we can’t see those things it is then that we are really called to be a people of faith. To testify of the blessings of the Atonement, for that is the moment on which salvation rests.




Satan wants to subvert and eliminate our will and Heavenly Father want to actualize it fully so that we can be exhalted with Him. I really appreciate how The Screwtape Letters illustrates that vision of Satan as the "Pied Piper" ready to lead us merrily along the road to destruction.


I remember a book about The Donner party that Grandma and Grandpa had at the Tahoe house. There was a little chapter about a young woman who survived the terrible experience.

Virginia Reed was among those who made one of the earliest wagon treks into California. If this wagon train had followed the established Oregon Trail from Fort Bridger (Wyoming) northwest to Fort Hall (Idaho) and then southwest toward California, they would have reached their destination in safety. Instead, they were misled by a promoter. Lansford W. Hastings persuaded them they could save significant distance and time by following his so-called Hastings Cutoff. The Donner-Reed party left the proven trail at Fort Bridger and struggled southwest. They blazed a trail through the rugged Wasatch Mountains and then south of the Great Salt Lake and westward over the soggy surface of the salt flats in furnace heat.

The delays and incredible energies expended on this unproven route cost the Donner-Reed party an extra month in reaching the Sierra Nevada Mountains. As they hastened up the eastern slope trying to beat the first snows, they were caught in a tragic winter storm only one day short of the summit and a downhill passage into California. Marooned for the winter, half their group perished from starvation and cold.

After months in the mountains and incredible hardships of hunger and terror, thirteen-year-old Virginia Reed reached California and sent a letter to her cousin in the Midwest. After recounting her experiences and the terrible sufferings of their party, she concluded with this wise advice: “Never take no cuttofs and hurry along as fast as you can."

That's exactly what The Screwtape Letters is about. Persuasive "promoters" who offer advice and cutoffs as substitutes for the proven way.


Dane and I were talking about that very thing last night. About being persuaded that there is an easier way. The scriptures tell us the we are chastened and challenged for a reason. Our path is not the easy one, but it is the ONLY alternative.


I love you Mom! I hope you and Pat are doing well and finding successes on your current path.