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Copywork
About This Passage
Here Screwtape gives away the whole plan. The Enemy does not want people to give their hearts to the Future — to pile up all their hopes on tomorrow and forget today. 'We do,' says Screwtape, meaning the devils. Copying these two short lines shows how a single sentence can hold a big idea: where you put your treasure — in today or in tomorrow — is where your heart will live.
He does not want men to give the Future their hearts, to place their treasure in it. We do.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell the story of Screwtape's fifteenth letter to Wormwood in your own words. What does the Enemy want people to think about — today, the Present — and what does Screwtape want them thinking about instead?
Discussion Questions
- C.S. Lewis teaches us that today — the Present — is good by letting the devil Screwtape explain why he hates it. Why does hearing that the Present is dangerous to Screwtape make today seem more important, not less? What part of the story Screwtape tells Wormwood shows that today is where good things happen?
- Screwtape wants the man to take 'every real gift' he is given today and use it only as fuel to worry about the Future, so the man is 'never... happy now.' Is it better to enjoy a good gift today, or to spend today worrying about tomorrow — and why? Name the detail in the letter to Wormwood that shows what Screwtape wants.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
The time that is happening right now: today, this very moment.
Item 2
The time that has not come yet: tomorrow and the days ahead.
Item 3
Feeling upset or afraid that something bad might happen.
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Critical Thinking
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