The Slubgob Correspondences: Letter II

My Dear Screwtape,

     Your response to my last letter speaks volumes to your lack of humility.  While we wish to inspire pride in the minds of humans, you really ought to know better. Just because we are devils, do not assume that we clamor at every manifestation of pride. In humans, yes, when properly directed. But down here we command the absolute obedience of all subordinates.

     I will assume for the time being that the preceding has instilled in you a sense of humility and you no longer consider yourself beyond my counsel. In light of this assumed humility I will indulge your idiotic fancy that corruption belongs in the heart of the individual and there alone.  While I admit that such an approach – in the past - has yielded many quite delectable victuals favorable to even the most discriminating palettes, you must realize that Hell is an organization. It is a hierarchy who seeks to continue trapping lost souls for the purpose of satisfying our appetites; so quality must - at times - suffer for the sake of quantity.

Remember that one fellow we waited for, the one with a natural sweetness that made our jawbones quiver? That sweetness came not just from his commitment to our cause, but from the return on our investment in his willingness to propagate our message through his calamitous actions.  The quivering was anticipation of those souls still to come and be feasted upon – those souls who followed him as well as those upon whom he inflicted such irreversible despair. The state of a single soul takes flavor only so far; it is only when soaked in a marinade of cynicism, regret, and despondency that its bouquet really comes alive.

In your toast when you named the individual soul as the true battle field, I nearly choked.  True one must turn individuals to us; but if we don’t immediately succeed in making that individual into a proselytizer for our purposes, we are leaving much on that terrestrial table to be scooped up by the Enemy. When someone is firmly in our grasp, they must cease questioning the correctness of their path. By influencing their communication to others, we are able to turn their pride inward and reinforce it continuously – but remember that such an approach must be tireless. The Enemy loves converts.

Remember that fellow on the road to Damascus? There’s an example of someone who could’ve proven most useful to us; but a single moment of neglect on the part of his tempter lost him to the Enemy forever. His letters are still causing us grief.

                                  Your Merciful Master,

                                      Slubgob