Saturday, March 31, 2007

Questions for Discussion - Letter XV

1 - What is the difference between humans and spirits in relation to time?
2 - What is the problem with peacetime activities and preoccupations?
3 - Discuss “the present is the point at which time touches eternity”
4 - Do you agree with the statement that the biological necessities make all our passions point in the direction of the future, and how can one counteract such inclinations?
5 – How does we take both past and future in consideration and live and work and be obedient to God in the present?



Thursday, March 22, 2007

Questions for Discussion - Letter XIV

1.What are the different “states of mind” that Lewis develops in the first paragraph? Does this correspond to real life?
2.Why is a virtue “less formidable to us once a man is aware that he has them?
3.How can the knowledge of humility be transformed in pride?
4.Discuss the true end of humility. How can I rejoice in my neighbor’s talents as frankly and gratefully as in my own?
5.How can we develop a sense of humor and proportion so we can laugh at ourselves?
6.What is God’s true end to humility?
7.Discuss “make him value an opinion for some quality other than truth (how does this relate to postmodernism?
8.How can dishonesty or “make believe” play a role in what “otherwise, threatens to become a virtue”?
9.What, according to Lewis, is the state of mind God wants us to be?
10.Discuss: “to restore to them a kind of self love - a charity and gratitude for all selves, including their own”
11.Which would you think the most humble: the woman who, when complimented on the choice of her beautiful new dress, says, “Yes, it is beautiful, isn’t it?” or the woman who exclaims, “Oh, this is old thing! I had it for ages!”



Saturday, March 17, 2007

Questions for Letter XIII

1. What would you consider the “asphyxiating cloud” and how can we live as to become “permanently surrounded by it” as to become inaccessible to the devil?
2. Screwtape hopes to corrupt the patient by causing him to abandon what?
3. Why is any real pain or pleasure a good way to keep us from God?
4. How and why does God wants to detach men from themselves? Why is it necessary for us first abandon the clamor of self-will?
5. Why would a “strong personal taste which is not actually a sin” be discourage?
6. Discuss the meaning of “No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will”
7. What is the negative relationship between feeling and acting?

Monday, February 26, 2007

Questions for Discussion - Letter XII

1.Are the simple choices we make on a daily basis really trivial and revocable? Can you give some examples of an apparently simple choice that ended up causing major life changing consequences?
2.How can church going habits be good or bad?
3.What is this “dim uneasiness” that Screwtape talks about?
4.How can we work diligently to keep a health prayer life?
5.How should we choose our friends and amusements? Describe the steps from “choice of friends” (a apparently small unimportant decision) to the “cold dark and utmost place”
6.Have you ever felt that “increased reluctance to think about “ things of God? And what sort of distractions affect your devotional life?
7.How cumulative are small sins? And how to prevent them to slowly and gently taking one into the safest road to Hell?

Questions for Discussion - Letter XI


1.How is joy characterized among friends and lovers reunited on the eve of a holiday? 2.How can we experience real Joy? Is the “Joy of the Lord” your strength? If not, what is missing?
3.What is the real danger of Fun according to Screwtape?
4.Describe the type 1 (to whom no passion is as serious as lust and for whom an indecent story ceases to produce lasciviousness as it becomes funny), and type 2 (to whom laughter and lust are excited at the same moment and by the same things) as depicted by Lewis. Try to compare what they would look in your own circle of friends. How can we help ourselves not to become as one of these characters?
5.If “joy is the serious business of heaven, what is missing in my life and our church life so we can more fully enjoy the God given joy? How can we develop joy in our lives? What is God’s warning in (Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity), Deuteronomy 28:46-48 and how do I compare it to Hebrews 10:34?
6.Does God have a sense of humor?
7.How can we avoid the temptation of flippancy? Is it really as dangerous as Lewis mentions?
8.Can there be joy outside God’s will?

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Questions for Discussion and Reflection - Letter X

1 What kinds of people are considered “desirable acquaintances” by Screwtape?
2 What are the contemporary characteristics of such friends?
3 Are “old warnings” of “worldly vanities, the choice of friends, and the value of time” still important for post-modern lives?
4 How to fight inconsistencies such as enjoying blasphemy over coffee because we are aware of a “deeper” spiritual world?
5 When the difference between being “in” the world and being “of” the world hard to distinguish?
6 How can we avoid being “polluted” by the world?
7 How things like drinking, smoking, partying, etc. become fatal habits?

For Further Reading and Reflection
Reading: The Four Loves, The Inner Ring, Letters of CSL

New Schedule - Spring 2007

Letter 8 January 13 - @ Ribeiro' s
Letter 9 January 20 - @ Ribeiro's
Letter 10 January 27 - @ Ribeiro'o
Letter 11 February 10 - @ Ribeiro's
Letter 12 February 17 - @ Bev's
Letter 13 March 3
Letter 14 March 10
Letter 15 March 17
Letter 16 March 24
Letter 17 March 31
Letter 18 April 7
Letter 19 April 14
Letter 20 April 21
Letter 21 April 28
Letter 22 May 5
Letter 23 May 12
Letter 24 May 19
Letter 25 May 26
Letter 26 June 2
Letter 27 June 9
Letter 28 June 16
Letter 29 June 23
Letter 30 June 30
Letter 31 July 7

Friday, January 19, 2007

Questions for Discussion and Reflection - Letter IX

•What is the contrast made between trough and peak sexuality?
•Why is Hell so often given credit for which belongs to God (the creator of pleasures) and vice-versa?
•Has this any bearing on the current vogue of such terms as “sex” and “having sex”?
•Read and discuss Romans 14:14-23. Why does Screwtape consider a “moderate religion” better than no religion at all?
•How do we get out of troughs?
•What are the phases in vogue now?
•How is Ephesians 6:10-18 (Armor of God) so important at the trough of our lives?
•In what ways Lewis suggests that our faith is attacked?
•How can we help each other as to deal with our troughs?

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Letter VIII - Opening Questions

1How much backsliding is caused by the feeling that troughs are permanent?
2 What do you think of the law of Undulation?
4 What is most damaging, peaks or troughs?
5 Do you agree with the idea of God’s periodic withdrawal from us?
6 Why should it be against God’ nature to over-ride human will? How conciliate this idea with God’s sovereignty?
7 How do you think God expects us to obey when we feel forsaken?


Flowers of Narnia - July 17 / 2022

 “Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully ...