My Dear Gunner (“Gooner”):

I am so pleased to have my own nephew working in the field as my associate.  You have done well thus far to live up to your name, which as you know, means battle and strife.  Your magnetic, Svengali-like personality fits perfectly with your chosen career of convincing the humanoids to choose us over the Enemy.  My dear Gunner, yours will be a daily battle, particularly against the Enemy’s strongest weapon; you know – that four-letter word that begins with “L”.  As your teacher, I will help you learn the tools of the trade.  You will experience much pleasure as you become successful in your endeavor of leading the humanoid in our way of life.  You will experience delight as you convince him that our way is much more personally satisfying than anything the Enemy has to offer.  

Begin to develop rapport with him by calling his attention to himself and his desires – show him how living our way is in his best interest.  He deserves to enjoy life to the fullest, and that means keeping himself at the center of all he does.

I am sure you will do well, and look forward to hearing of your progress.

Your affectionate Aunt, 

Wylie

Dear Auntie: Thank you for your words of encouragement.  As a recent graduate of the School of Torment and Temptation, I appreciate your experience in the unholy vocation of leading humanoids into temptation and delivering them into evil.  “Battle and strife” are not just my names.  They are my purposes.  I plan to live up to them.

You are most insightful about our pursuit for the souls of these foolish humans.  They are easily persuaded after the desires of the flesh.  That they quickly turn away from our Eternal Enemy towards us makes our daily battle against virtue and righteousness an unholy and pleasurable cause. My humanoid is a poster child for self-deception.  I am teaching him that there are no consequences to life choices.  He needs to know that he will not reap what he sows.  He should understand one of our basic tenets:  Faulty choices and wrong doing have no detriment.  There is no penalty for sin.  At least, none that they need to be concerned with yet.  (Demonic chuckle)

My particular subject, for instance, was lured by the Enemy to be loving and kind.  For a moment, I actually feared that he would attempt to comfort those who mourn, or to be merciful, or to intervene in the worldly systems of despair.  I think he understood that to follow God would require him to set aside his own interests and ambitions because of that strange motive that they call “Love,” a word I tremble to use.  I feared that he would actually sow to the Spirit instead of his flesh. 

But he showed his weakness in a moment’s hesitation, and his hesitation in serving the Enemy God served our purpose.  Because while he lingered over whether he was going to choose our despotic kingdom or the Other One, I simply whispered a few things in his ear.  I reminded him that he was singularly important, and I suggested that he showed weakness when he felt or acted in a forgiving or merciful manner toward other humans.  For just a few moments I doubted my success – ah, but then I saw him repent of his holy ways.  You can imagine my feeling of accomplishment when my human subject put himself at the center of his thoughts.  Once he began to think very highly of himself, he began to act in selfish ways.  Auntie Wylie, don’t you delight in the evil of the humanoids?  They can become creatively self-centered with merely an innocent suggestion from us.

     So when my human subject saw a hungry person and he looked the other way, I chortled at my success.  When another humanoid was diminished because he was different or not accepted by society -- and he did nothing, I grinned my biggest and widest impish grin.  He was thinking that the hungry person deserved his hunger because he was weak; that the homeless person merited no concern because he was lazy; that the unacceptable person was destined to be excluded because of his own wrong doing.  As for me, I could see that becoming Satan’s accomplice was a genuine detriment, and I really began to enjoy my work.. 

     These frail humans!  Leading them into temptation is as easy as a whisper in their ear.  All I have to say to outwit them is one sentence:  “You are what matters most.”  Even a newly dispatched demon like me can bring them down.  (I chortle with glee.)

My Dear Gunner: 

We are indeed fortunate that the humanoids are so easily convinced that there are no consequences to life’s choices, and nor are they their brother’s keeper.  Keep nudging your human toward the thinking that nothing is his fault, and yet everyone else is responsible for what happens to them!  That makes for a natural transition into all forms of temptation. You’re doing a great job so far! 

My dear Gunner, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of keeping your humanoid’s focus on the mistakes of others.  That way none of his energy can go toward what the Enemy, God is trying to do in him!  And sooner than you think he will wear down, lose confidence, become cynical, and be drawn to your spirit instead of the Enemy’s.  Show him the benefits of going with the flow downstream rather than constantly fighting the current.  Going with the ways of our world is easier, creates less resistance, and feeds many of his physical desires.  As he joins the ways of our world there on earth, many others will see his actions and follow suit.  

Remember: self-focus in terms of the desires of the body, other-focused in terms of fault and failure.

     As always, I look forward to hearing of your progress.

Your affectionate Aunt, Wylie

Dear Auntie Wylie:  

Your letter reached me at an appropriate moment.  I was pondering over my human subject – what to do next in order to enable him to fall into fear.  Maybe a guilt trip would be nice.  Or else just a double dose of doubt.  Your instructions, however, gave me a more potent application of our demonic ways.

I noticed that he was not only feeling especially close to the Enemy, he was also behaving in rather disgusting un-Satanic practices.  He appeared to be willing to give his time to service and his resources to benefit others.  He had many opportunities to be turned away from truth and righteousness, which he did not take.  Quite frankly, I was becoming very concerned, both about his spiritual condition and also about my ability to encourage despair and failure.  If I did not act soon, we could lose him from eternal loss. 

I found someone to work through – a friend of his who “just happened to drop in to see him.”  He was working for us, of course, and he posed the argument well.  “If you keep on giving and giving of yourself, soon there will be not enough left for you.”  Such illogic made an impression on my subject.  After all, it certainly sounds right to the human ear.  They only think in limited terms, which is to our advantage.  While the Enemy God is eternal and infinite, the humans like to put him in restraints.  Fortunately for us, they have a huge problem believing that giving oneself away for the love of others is exactly what God does for them and what they should be doing for others.  His attitude quickly shifted.  He began to think again about himself.  I enjoy that so much!  When these humans regain their self-focus, they are much weaker and more immature.

The humans stand on two legs.  The first leg is his focus – who, where, and what he values as important.  When we teach them to focus inwardly, upon themselves and what they want, then the humans are weak. The second leg is the human need to lay the blame on others for any of the issues and contradictions in their lives.  It’s a simple matter of providing a scapegoat.  Finding fault with others as a way to absolve themselves of personal responsibility makes the second leg weak as well. 

A human with two weak legs is no one to fear.  At the same time, the human seeks only what is self-serving and also places responsibility for the outcomes on his scapegoat.   The human is handicapped.  We need not fear them then.  They are then not strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  They are much too weak to put on God’s full armor and engage the powers and principalities.  

My dear Gunner:

I simply gasp when I read how intelligent and insightful you are.  You must surely have been born to me, rather than to my dear fallen brother. 

You have been successful in your endeavors to keep your humanoid focused on self, blame others for everything of consequence, and lead him away from the Enemy God.

Your next lesson to practice is one about relationship.  As long as you keep your human out of relationship with the Enemy and other humanoids, he will surely belong to us forever.  I am concerned, however, my dearest Gunner.  Your humanoid is very relationally oriented, and he is spending far too much time with those who belong to the Enemy.  You must immediately divert his attention to more important endeavors: for example, lead him to sports events that take place on Sunday mornings.  Show him that they are much more satisfying than spending time with the Enemy and his followers.  Fill him with desire to spend time with family members and friends who belong to us, and have them schedule events during those times he would otherwise be in the Enemy’s house or in his service.

One more thing.  You need to redirect the humanoid’s natural desire to talk with the Enemy.  Keep him so busy and focused on himself that he “prays” only when in crisis.  That way his conversation will be focused on self, and come from a state of emotion, rather than a desire to be in relationship and therefore open to the guidance of the Enemy.  I’m sure I need not remind you to take full advantage when his prayers are not answered as desired.

Working with you is a delight, my dear Gunner.  Keep up the good work.  And as always, I look forward to hearing of your progress.   

Your Affectionate Aunt Wylie.       (Continued >>)