Apathy

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Screwtape to Wormwood:

" All the healthy and out-going activities which we want him to avoid can be inhibited and nothing given in return, so that at least he may say, as one of my own patients said on his arrival down here, 'I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked.'...Nothing is very strong; strong enough to steal away a man's best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not why, in the gratification of curiosities so feeble that the man is only half aware of them, in drumming of fingers and kicking of heels, in whistling tunes that he does not like, or in the long, dim labyrinth of reveries that have not even lust or ambition to give them a relish, but which, once chance association has started them, the creature is too weak and fuddled to shake off."

This passage struck me because I feel I understand all too well what Lewis is talking about here. The word that comes to mind is apathy. Satan wants us to be apathetic wasting our time away here on earth filled with that which is not important so that we are too distracted to do that which is important.

Why am I here on earth? What difference will I make? When it's my time to leave, will anything or anyone be better because I was here? I hope I can say yes. That's probably partly what drew me into teaching and what has kept me in teaching. But I am constantly thinking - I could do more. Then, I find myself distracted. Or becoming apathetic. I get too wrapped up in myself and my own needs or wants. I forget to look at those around me and what I could do for them. I think about all the time that I waste away on inconsequential things - and wow, is it a lot.

I really like the quote, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." As a history teacher, I see how true this is all throughout history. One man can cause a lot of trouble or one man can stop a lot of trouble. I think one of the biggest lies Satan likes to make us believe is that we can't do anything - it's too big or overwhelming of a problem so why bother? Hide our heads in the sand and give up. That is not okay!!!

I need this as a daily reminder. What am I doing that will make a difference tomorrow?