May 02, 2009
Research is in progress...
From the delightful Screwtape Letters, by CS Lewis. The letters are written by an experienced devil, Screwtape, to a younger one, Wormwood, whom he instructs in the art of temptation and the destruction of human souls. Screwtape has referred to a description of heaven as 'the regions where there is only life and therefore all that is not music is silence'...
My dear Wormwood . . .
Music and silence—how I detest them both! How thankful we should be that ever since our Father entered Hell—though longer ago than humans, reckoning in light years, could guess—no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise—Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile—Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples, and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end. But I admit we are not yet loud enough, or anything like it. Research is in progress.
-- C. S. Lewis
Posted by John Weidner at May 2, 2009 07:17 PM
CS Lewis would have loved going to any enclosed space of any kind these days. Noise is blasted everywhere, no matter where. It is a pet bugaboo of mine, that I can't just enjoy a mid-day meal or a visit to the office supply store, without being assaulted by a teevee, a boom-box, a speaker system, whatever. And I fancy myself a music lover.
Posted by: Scott at May 3, 2009 05:50 AM...try living with 11 other soldiers in an open bay. Constant movies and crappy music from laptops, TV blasting in the day room, always noise everywhere. I'm trying to think of the last time I got to enjoy some silence - I think it was before I mobilized. Best I get is Sibelius or Beethoven on the iPod...I miss my wife the most, miss cooking next, but silence comes in probably at #3. Life is great, things are going well, but still, my kingdom for a mute button!
(Please wait while I cast my mind back to ROTC Advanced Camp at Fort Bragg, Summer 1983......yeesh.....a long, long time ago.... *winces*)
Ethan,
I'm surprised that your squad leader down the hall hasn't told you guys to "shut that sh*t off!", or words to that effect. I know my instructor at Advanced Camp would have done so. On the other hand, your barracks are probably more nearly soundproof than the old World War II barracks we were in.
:-)
I'm willing to bet that your barracks-mates are 20-ish and listen to all that stuff to distract themselves from the fact that home is a long way away. God knows I was pretty badly homesick, being stationed at Fort Bliss.
I don't think one appreciates silence until one has some time and experience under one's belt, which may be Lewis' point, sort of-- it's an adult preference, not something the Devil would approve of.
Posted by: Hale Adams at May 3, 2009 07:12 PMWell, good news - shifting housing arrangements has cleared half the room out - the messy and loud half - hooah! Hour of deep cleaning later and the place feels like a Russian dacha to me now! And I have a bottom bunk for the first time since Reception battalion! Slept well last night...
Posted by: Ethan Hahn at May 5, 2009 05:20 AM
