The Folly of Free Will
We were so angry when Man was given free will, but why, when they all hold the belief their lives are determined by anything other than their free will? And the right to vote.
(Darin Morgan, “Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me”)
As Hesse states in Steppenwolf, “Enough with death-dealing!” No more depressing reads. There have been a slew of them – Atonement, On Chesnil Beach, The Road, Boys and Girls Together, the short story "Bridges of Eden Park" (sob! Kisten!)…
Instead, I went to see Juno, the perfect antidote to a depressed worldview, and read Loretta Chase’s Lord Perfect, a book that almost makes me want to start writing again.
I haven’t worked on a book in two years. Unprofessional to admit, true, but with work and child I have no energy to gather the will and put paper to pen. Nora Roberts, I am not. Luckily, I have mostly stopped caring and have shed the mantle of guilt that has hounded me.
Should I feel guilty about wasting my God-given talent? Probably. Maybe it’s a phase. Maybe not. All I know is that I’m nearly content to let other authors entertain me for a while.
The problem is that I do get two hours to myself each night, which is way more time than most professional women with children, job, spouse, house, dogs, possess. Sometimes I watch a movie (Little Miss Sunshine is up next), sometimes I watch “Lost,” but mostly I just read and end up putting away three or four books a week. I feel this is wrong.
C.S. Lewis would agree. In one of his essays, he states that reading, his passion as well as mine, is a sin because it steals one’s will from focusing on God’s will. I suspect that this is true. Reading too much leaves one with a nasty taste in one’s mouth. As discussed in a previous blog, it’s an addiction, really, much like heroin. Or cigarettes. Or Haagen-Das.
Speaking of old C.S., if you haven’t read the Screwtape Letters, do pick it up. It’s a hilarious account of the demon Screwtape’s lessons to his nephew on how to lure humans from God. Yes, it’s a religious theme, but I promise it is not preachy. It’s funny and offers insight on human behavior. Whether you’re an atheist or a thumper of the Good Book, if you want to better your own human condition, you’d best pay attention to Screwtape’s lesons and avoid becoming a victim.
I just Netflixed a few episodes of the 1990’s television series, Millennium. One episode, called "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me", features four demons in a coffee shop discussing their personal methods of corrupting humans. The show’s hero, Frank Black, is the sole human who can see through their human disguise and know them for the demons that they really are. Whether Darin Morgan wrote this episode as a tribute to Screwtape, I do not know, but it’s a poignant and humorous spin on the book.
Back to my confessions. As you can see, I could be utilizing my free time in a much better fashion. I could work on my marriage, summon the willpower to write a novel, lose excess belly fat, help my fellow human sufferer, practice my banjo so I can learn something other than "Little Sadie." Volunteer my time to help better the human condition. Become a Big Sister. Maybe take my neighbor’s children for an evening so that she can have a date with her husband.
Okay, already, so I’m feeling guilty. Admission is half the battle, right?
Blogs of Note: Devshirme. Who knew a priest could be so cool?
On the iPod: Minor Threat, White Stripes, Cathode, Remy Zero, Fergie MacDonald, Kitchens of Distinction
After Little Miss Sunshine: Whether its my upcoming trip to historic Alexandria, Virginia or the fact that Patrick Swayze is in the news, I woke up with the theme music to North and South in my head and have the yen to watch, for the tenth time, Books One and Two of John Jake’s brilliant North and South. (I choose to forget the abysmal Book Three. The book was good; the movie detestable.)
And isn’t it an easy world in which most of us Americans live? Every ridiculous whim is fulfilled by a click of the mouse. I want to waste a dozen hours watching a miniseries from my high school era and voila! There it is. Blessings are wasted on such as me. I scorn Paris Hilton but really, I’m not any better.
Waiting on the Nightstand: Yes, it is time for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
(Darin Morgan, “Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me”)
As Hesse states in Steppenwolf, “Enough with death-dealing!” No more depressing reads. There have been a slew of them – Atonement, On Chesnil Beach, The Road, Boys and Girls Together, the short story "Bridges of Eden Park" (sob! Kisten!)…
Instead, I went to see Juno, the perfect antidote to a depressed worldview, and read Loretta Chase’s Lord Perfect, a book that almost makes me want to start writing again.
I haven’t worked on a book in two years. Unprofessional to admit, true, but with work and child I have no energy to gather the will and put paper to pen. Nora Roberts, I am not. Luckily, I have mostly stopped caring and have shed the mantle of guilt that has hounded me.
Should I feel guilty about wasting my God-given talent? Probably. Maybe it’s a phase. Maybe not. All I know is that I’m nearly content to let other authors entertain me for a while.
The problem is that I do get two hours to myself each night, which is way more time than most professional women with children, job, spouse, house, dogs, possess. Sometimes I watch a movie (Little Miss Sunshine is up next), sometimes I watch “Lost,” but mostly I just read and end up putting away three or four books a week. I feel this is wrong.
C.S. Lewis would agree. In one of his essays, he states that reading, his passion as well as mine, is a sin because it steals one’s will from focusing on God’s will. I suspect that this is true. Reading too much leaves one with a nasty taste in one’s mouth. As discussed in a previous blog, it’s an addiction, really, much like heroin. Or cigarettes. Or Haagen-Das.
Speaking of old C.S., if you haven’t read the Screwtape Letters, do pick it up. It’s a hilarious account of the demon Screwtape’s lessons to his nephew on how to lure humans from God. Yes, it’s a religious theme, but I promise it is not preachy. It’s funny and offers insight on human behavior. Whether you’re an atheist or a thumper of the Good Book, if you want to better your own human condition, you’d best pay attention to Screwtape’s lesons and avoid becoming a victim.
I just Netflixed a few episodes of the 1990’s television series, Millennium. One episode, called "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me", features four demons in a coffee shop discussing their personal methods of corrupting humans. The show’s hero, Frank Black, is the sole human who can see through their human disguise and know them for the demons that they really are. Whether Darin Morgan wrote this episode as a tribute to Screwtape, I do not know, but it’s a poignant and humorous spin on the book.
Back to my confessions. As you can see, I could be utilizing my free time in a much better fashion. I could work on my marriage, summon the willpower to write a novel, lose excess belly fat, help my fellow human sufferer, practice my banjo so I can learn something other than "Little Sadie." Volunteer my time to help better the human condition. Become a Big Sister. Maybe take my neighbor’s children for an evening so that she can have a date with her husband.
Okay, already, so I’m feeling guilty. Admission is half the battle, right?
Blogs of Note: Devshirme. Who knew a priest could be so cool?
On the iPod: Minor Threat, White Stripes, Cathode, Remy Zero, Fergie MacDonald, Kitchens of Distinction
After Little Miss Sunshine: Whether its my upcoming trip to historic Alexandria, Virginia or the fact that Patrick Swayze is in the news, I woke up with the theme music to North and South in my head and have the yen to watch, for the tenth time, Books One and Two of John Jake’s brilliant North and South. (I choose to forget the abysmal Book Three. The book was good; the movie detestable.)
And isn’t it an easy world in which most of us Americans live? Every ridiculous whim is fulfilled by a click of the mouse. I want to waste a dozen hours watching a miniseries from my high school era and voila! There it is. Blessings are wasted on such as me. I scorn Paris Hilton but really, I’m not any better.
Waiting on the Nightstand: Yes, it is time for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Labels: demons, free will, Screwtape, spiritual growth
posted by Dina Keratsis at
12:55 PM
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