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Posts Tagged ‘evil’

Dragons, Beasts, and 666

Posted in Eastertide, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2012| 6 Comments »

Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!

I almost feel like Dorothy trying to navigate her way through the Land of Oz. But where she chanted lions and tigers and bears; we are told to beware of dragons, beasts, and 666. Dorothy and her friends didn’t know what to expect and honestly, either do we.

Revelation 13:11-12a, 18b
Then I [John] saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, . . . Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

Whether these are mythical dragons or early man’s interpretation of dinosaurs, they represent something bigger than we are, stronger, fearsome, and non-human. Let’s just take a Sauropoda or Brontosaurus, an average human next to that one is about as tall as toe to mid-calf of one leg of the dinosaur. That would be like a man next to a mouse, a very small mouse. What do we have in common? What do we share? And if, today, we actually encountered a malevolent creature of that size, wouldn’t we fear it?

According to Revelation, that’s not all, we also have multi-headed beasts and mysterious numbers to fear, or just one number, really, that mysterious 666 which has become synonymous with evil, the devil, and other negative connotations. It’s universally accepted as sinister except for those who relish in sympathizing with such symbolism such as the Aryan Brotherhood, the Growing in Grace Church of Miami who follow self-proclaimed “christ-figure” Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, the Cult of Saturn, and many more.

I remember my first exposure to all of the prophetic tumult in the 1970’s about the end times, 666, the mark of the beast, and so on. I was terrified as more and more people seemed to believe in it and write about it. For many, the last days were identified by many signs like the modern day happenings in Israel, the European Union, and the demise of paper money for e-cash. And of course, more recently, the pathetic predictions of charlatans such as Howard Camping whose rapture was to have happened last year on May 21st.

Just as there are good witches and evil witches in Oz, so do we have the spectrum here in “Kansas.” Good and evil are ever before us with the narrow good road generally appearing as the least likely way to travel.

Wisdom calls out in the market place [Proverbs 1:20] and yet we do not hear her. We are running to and fro looking for signs and wonders and yet do not see the most obvious sign of all: our own biases.

The poor, the orphan, the widow, the single mom, and the homeless are fighting the dragon and beasts every day as well as those humans who behave as though 666 is their motto, withholding what they have out of fear losing it all. Oh God, is that my number after all? Forgive me.

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War in Heaven

Posted in Eastertide, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Of course, this “war in heaven” is raged all the time. Despite the various views of Bible scholars, both Old Testament and New, I cannot eschew my commitment to timelessness to all things heavenly and Godly. And how do I know this? Just look around.

Revelation 12:7-8, 9b
Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. . . He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

If the effects of this war in heaven is the hurling of evil forces to earth, then we have had no respite from it. Throughout the ages, earth and human have experienced nothing but travail, fighting against one another for one stupid reason after another.

We have always longed for things we could not have. This is the mark of evil.

“They [Michael and his angels] triumphed over him [the dragon and his angels]
by the blood of the Lamb [the Christ]
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death. [Revelation 12:11]

This is the life of paradox: taking the “strength and power” of the Christ, the lamb, the peace that passes understanding, and doing battle against evil. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” [Ephesians 6:12]

Oh, if I could just get this in my head and heart and mind and not struggle so much with traditional strength, with my own determination, and my own flappings.

Gandhi got it. Martin Luther King got it. Mother Teresa got it. What about you and me?

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Truth and Consequences

Posted in Lent, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 21, 2012| 2 Comments »

Adages, quotes, sayings, proverbs abound: “You get what you pay for;” “You made your bed now lie in it;” or simply, “Face the music.” On and on, we are reminded about the consequences of our actions. And still history repeats itself again and again. At least, mine does.

Proverbs 11:27
Whoever seeks good finds favor, but evil comes to one who searches for it.

I’m not saying that I go around looking for trouble necessarily, and yet, I have played very close to the fire and somehow managed to be surprised when I got burned. Of course, we all do it to some degree or another.

Just last night, my son was wisecracking about the messes he gets himself into when he drinks too much. Now, one would think the obvious solution would smack him up along side his head but that is not the case. Was I any different? At his age, I wrapped by head around a toilet more times than I’d like to admit and I nursed horrible hangovers and regretted many things I blurted out to perfect strangers. Duh!

There is a balance point between knowledge, experience, and self-control. Once discovered, like finding the focus point on a balance beam or high wire, it becomes a small wisdom.

I know about consequences. I have experience with consequences. And yet, until I make the better choice before consequences kick in, knowledge & experience have little effect. It’s truly a matter of practice before wisdom becomes a part of character, a part of the soul.

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Unrepentant Jezebel

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on January 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Jezebel, the historic Phoenician princess and widow of Ahab, dressed in her finery and makeup, hoping to seduce the new king. Instead, she was tossed out the window and eaten by wild dogs. To the bitter end, she defied man, society, and God. She lived without remorse.

Revelation 2:20b-21
. . . Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.

This is the face of evil.

Despite everything Jezebel had done or said or connived, she believed there was always another loophole, another power play, another option. She was proud, confident, and self-absorbed. Nothing broke her resolve. She had a heart of stone and was unmoved by the needs or sorrows of others.

And yet, she was also beautiful.

As my children came into their teens and were exposed to all the anti-drug, smoking, drinking, and unprotected sex instruction in school while knowing kids around them (both younger and older) who were already indulging in one or more of these entertainments, there was always one piece of information that wasn’t given by the well-meaning instructors.

In the beginning, most of these vices are fun. Is that blasphemous? Well, it’s true. Why would people do them if it wasn’t fun. That’s the point! And for this very reason, the appeal of drugs and alcohol and free-range can be overwhelming. For me it was important to warn them of this important detail. The trick for young people (or any people for that matter) is to realize that it’s not the acts themselves but the over-indulgence in them: too much of a good thing. Each one of these vices begs for more. And with that seduction, begins the spiral.

Jezebel symbolizes them all, no less than our “other” enemy, captured in scripture as Satan, also an “angel of light” not as some pitchforked fanged creature at all. Who would be enticed by that?

I see myself captured in the smallest of Jezebel ways. It’s usually a way of thinking like “oh, I can have this, I deserve it, I worked hard today;” or, “It’s a holiday, I can treat myself;” or, “It’s just one . . .” And on and on an on go the justifications for indulgence.

And unfortunately, anything less than indulgence is considered deprivation. To stop eating large portions, excessive sweets, highly caffeinated drinks, beer or wine, is considered a “diet” and “doing without.” But honestly, if we lived in a third world country, the concept would be absurd, where a clean cup of water is a luxury and more than one meal a day, a blessing.

Jezebel is still busy in Western culture.

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Spirit Talk

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It’s so much easier to speak of the spirit world in different contexts, fantasy for instance. In those circles, it’s the norm to speak of spirits, magic, miracles, powers, spiritual enemies and spiritual good guys. But we have lost our ability in this age to speak of the Spirit World.

I John 4:4
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Despite the fact that numerous references are made to this spirit world in scripture; I am particularly thinking of Ephesians 6:12 as a good example, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms,” we hesitate to claim it as our own. It’s all woohoo stuff! And so, most folks shrug off spirit talk.

But I cannot. The epistle of I John speaks at length about spirit relationships: our own spirits, those of the “anti-christ” opposed to all Christ spirit, the spirits of the world, the spirits of believers, and the spirits of God followers. This is the unseen world and yet, more and more, I do believe it is the most important part of our existence.

We are multi-dimensional for a reason. And there are enough people, even in modern times, who have had significant experiences with Spirit that it seems foolish to disregard this aspect of our humanity, our spirituality, our essence.

I guess the big question is in the tension that arises when we refer to “good” and “evil” spirits. And I understand that hesitancy, but there is simply too much evidence to deny them. For me, the truth of evil places human depravity at the feet of its source: the realm within.

Do we really think that the battles we carry on in the flesh will change the spirit? Will our wars block the power of evil’s presence and influence? Will our gun laws prevent their distribution on the streets of our cities? Will our capture of kilos of cocaine prevent the fields of poppies from being grown again?

We are back to the single word that explains the Way of the Spirit realm: paradox. It’s not the very reasonable approaches to problems of our world that will change it, but the opposite. If not, if it’s all Pollyanna, then why did Jesus bother to say any of it? I know things are bad now, but things were bad then too: almost everyone was poor or under the iron fist of a dictator or slave owner, violence was the norm and so was hunger. There was no “upward mobility,” there was no middle class. Back then, it wasn’t just the 99% but 99.9% of the people who suffered under human indignity and loss.

They had good reason to look and wait for a revolution. Instead, Jesus proclaimed a victory for the interior life as the starting point for change. Do we follow? Do we believe?

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That Enemy of Mine

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Who is that devil? Who likes to talk about the “devil,” “Satan” or evil? Culture has morphed the devil into a red-horned little man with a pitch fork at Halloween, or a dark looming evil suction machine ready to drag me into Hell, or the scapegoat for everything wrong with us.

I Peter 5:8
Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. [Amplified]

In Peter’s voice, the evil entity takes on a very personal nature: that “enemy of yours.” It’s a specific adversary who is lurking around my world, ready to take advantage of some negligence or self-indulgence, ready to ruin a situation, break apart a plan, or discourage a goal.

The NIV translation is simple, “be self-controlled and alert.” Therefore, in the face of Peter’s recommendations, it means behavior that is out of control, intemperate, or incautious, will be a set up for a fall, a slippery slide at the water park. Interestingly enough, I think these moments of imbalance are specific to each person. They are my battles and my particular challenges. “My” enemy may not be your enemy. My indulgences may not be yours. That means, the other guy or gal over there, may have equally unique hazards or threats that may not look all that difficult to me.

I believe this “personal enemy” works from the inside out, just like everything else. Oh, there may be some global enemy who hates the Earth, let’s say, and brings on tsunami’s and famines. Why not? But right now, I’m considering how this enemy of mine gets a foothold inside me.

It doesn’t take long to figure this out. There are several easy “ins” for that enemy of mine such as my issues of food, weight, exercise, and discipline. Or what about those procrastinations that expand from a few minutes to days, weeks, or even months? And in relationships, what about consistency and honesty? I can see how an imbalance in any of these spheres play heavily on my sense of worth and well-being, my trust in God.

So often the imbalance is not just in “not” doing, it’s also in doing too much. Perfectionism and performance-based choices are equally distracting. I’m like a pendulum, swinging back and forth between the two and that enemy of mine swings right along with me.

And so, I ask myself, how do I achieve true balance? How can I be vigilant without being controlling? How can I be cautious and yet be a risk-taker? How can I find the “de-militarized zone” where there is no condemnation and no fear?

Time away. Prayer. Forgiveness. Each day: manna.

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Restless Evil

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I am in the talking business. Honestly. Whether it’s in my current line of work serving the library public or my other life as an actress and presenter, or my private life of pure chatter, my mouth is in constant motion. How often has the flow from my heart been distorted without my knowing it?

James 3:8, 10 – 11
. . . but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. . . . Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

As I contemplated these verses today, I kept going back to the birthplace of the tongue’s motion. After all, the tongue is but a tool; it’s not like training an animal that has some personal will, the tongue is a medium. No, the message is born in the mind and heart and whatever taming is done must begin there.

The mind bears the content but the heart carries the emotion. They work in tandem and can equally obliterate the results.

For this reason, the impetus comes across as a restless evil, with a range of anxieties and uneasy moments, with unexpected impacts like a meteor shower of the soul, the heart and mind react. They form a thought or feeling before it is registered in reason. They are the knee jerk of the patellar reflex.

The hardest thing for me to remember and to accept is the inevitable damage of the reflexive, restless discharge from my mouth as it colors everything else. Like the salty spring that salinates fresh water, so my ill-conceived words distort even the best message.

I am believing, as the heart and mind are transformed by the presence of the Holy Spirit, the tongue, poor stepsister, will respond to sanctification as well. But it has to be organic. Anything else will be a fake out and the words and intent will expose the truth within.

“By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” [Matthew 7:16]

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