“But whatever the nature of the composite object, you must keep him praying to it.”
Letter IV from C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters gives us several examples of subtleties to man’s prayers. The demon Screwtape writes a letter to his nephew, and underling, instructing him in misdirecting his “patient’s” prayers, if he cannot keep him from it entirely.
MY DEAR WORMWOOD,
The best thing, where it is possible, is to keep the patient from the serious intention of praying altogether…
If this fails, you must fall back on a subtler misdirection of his intention…
I have known cases where what the patient called his “god” was actually located — up and to the left at the corner of the bedroom ceiling, or inside his own head, or in a crucifix on the wall. But whatever the nature of the composite object, you must keep him praying to it — to the thing that he has made, not to the Person who has made him… For if he ever comes to make the distinction, if ever he consciously directs his prayers, “Not to what I think thou art, but to what thou knowest thyself to be,” our situation is, for the moment, desperate.Your affectionate uncle,
Screwtape
Lewis’ words should encourage us to review not just our own hearts on the matter, but the subtle “nature of the composite object” that we must keep praying to. False idols and sacred symbols aren’t always overtly religious, but can represent anything that takes the attributes of sovereignty and faithfulness.
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