Do you believe in spirits? Spiritual forces at work in the world? Spiritual warfare? The Holy Spirit? The devil?
I've been having one of those eerie occurances where something keeps popping back up into conversation. Like you've never heard of etoufee in your life but then you see it on a menu, read about it in a book, and a friend tells you she just had delicious crab etoufee. On of THOSE kinds of things.
For me, it is has been about the spiritual realm. To begin with, it is All Saints Day and last night was All Hallows Eve. Ghosts, goblins, vampires, zombies, and werewolves abound with the other Buzz Lightyear and Bumblebee costumes. I've also had my nose in the Sookie Stackhouse series that abounds with vampires, were wolves, witches, and fairies. An undercurrent to a very normal world.
Then I've had two completely unrelated conversations about people's belief in a very present spiritual realm. Though I've always had a strong belief that spiritual forces are at work in the world, it has been vague in practice. Mostly, I see how the devil delights in twisting something harmless into something wicked. How else you explain affairs? Embezzling? Stealing or cheating in any sense, actually. That line in the Lord's Prayer - "lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil" or "save me from the time of trial." I think that's EXACTLY what Jesus was talking about.
Reference Job and Jesus' time in the wilderness with the devil. It's real. And today, it feels like I'm the target. That depression I struggle with? I think that's being used against me. My relationships with several individuals feel very strained. I don't like it.
So I'm doing the best I can. Say a little prayer for me, please? I'll repay it in full when I can.
2 comments:
On the intellectual level of it all, you might really like Walter Wink and Bill Stringfellow...they talk a lot about "powers and principalities" and put forward some interesting theological ideas about the interaction between the spiritual/physical realm.
More importantly, I love you and am praying for you. Call or skype me anytime you need to talk, or want someone to pray for you, or just want me to be ridiculous and distract you from reality by being my earthy, scatterbrained self.
Kevin's better for the intellectual side than me, but I echo him on the loving and praying and offer for calls or skype. Much peace and love dear friend. The devil is a wily fellow, but Jesus is wilier :)
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