Screwtape Letter #7 – Discussion Guide

This was a tough one to come up with who said it first – so I’m not going to even say anything about that.
However – in the course of that research, I did find a page that had various translations / usages of the saying at Omniglot. Of particular interest was one labeled as being Irish (Gaelic) –

An rud ná cloieseann an chluas ní chuireann sé buairt ar an gcroí.

Which apparently translates to –

What the ear does not hear does not worry the heart

I think that really gets to the point here – what tends to happen when we can’t see the devil.
Out of sight – invisible = out of mind – out of our hearts.

Interestingly enough – the same holds true for God.

What also gets interesting is that although we see neither in the physical sense –
we do see the results of both.

But – when good things happen – we thank God (at least Christians do – others have different responses)

On the flip side – when bad things happen – there seems to be more of a tendency to blame God – rather than to blame Satan.

Does that mean Satan – in a way – is “more” invisible than God –
less in our thoughts?

If it does – I submit that it means Satan can also get into our hearts more easily – because we don’t think about him – and don’t even realize what’s happening.

As far as what if Satan was visible – it’s all speculation.

Were we able to see the “real” Satan – the perversion of creation that he’s responsible for – I dare say there’s be few people willing to follow him.

Were we able to see him as the former worship leader in Heaven and as angel who was apparently very high up (no pun intended) – we may look as attractive as the lies he tells us.

Problem is – when we do get to see the real thing – the lies are exposed and the followers will leave.