Well, the Prairie Fam has arrived at Mamu’s. Mr. Smith and I stayed home tonight and, it seems, missed all of the excitement.
I’m picturing Ida with this vibe.
In other news, September is here. I can honestly say that August went by in a FLASH and before you know it, we’ll be titling blog posts with lines from ‘White Christmas’ and then it’ll be 2025. I finally ordered my new calendar for next year and I am amazed by how quickly the pages are being filled with plans. Most of them are related to the various clubs I’m in with my key demographic, ladies aged 70 and up. Oh and Missouri American Water came by to inspect the lead service line for my house and schedule the replacement…in SIX MONTHS. Good thing I have that new calendar.
Anyway, enough eyerolls. I’ve been reading The Screwtape Letters lately and boy it reads less like a satire and more like an accurate depiction of modern life. Written as a series of letters from a senior demon in Hell to his nephew, a junior tempter, it illustrates the importance of daily focus on faith by imagining how the devil tempts humans to turn away from Christianity. The Enemy to the narrator is, of course, God. The subject is a human being handled by the junior tempter.
“The great thing is to make him value an opinion for some quality other than truth, thus introducing an element of dishonesty and make-believe in the heart of what otherwise threatens to become a virtue. By this method thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools.”
“You will say that these are all very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
“We want him to be in the maximum uncertainty, so that his mind will be filled with contradictory pictures of the future, every one of which arouses hope or fear. There is nothing like suspense or anxiety for barricading a human’s mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.”
As a witness and emergency responder to the Spider Incident, I can attest that Ida’s reaction was to her sister’s blood curdling scream more than anything 😂
dual personalities 
As a witness and emergency responder to the Spider Incident, I can attest that Ida’s reaction was to her sister’s blood curdling scream more than anything 😂
OMG, that first line of the quote! Too perfect…the whole thing is great.
Wonderful post!