Tag Archives: Evil

The Meaning of Fear

Living in the Spirit

October 8, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
   He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
   he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
   for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
   I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
   your rod and your staff—
   they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
   my whole life long.

The noun fear means an unpleasant emotional state characterized by anticipation of pain or great distress and accompanied by heightened autonomic activity especially involving the nervous system, agitated foreboding often of some real or specific peril*

The verb fear means to have a reverential awe of*

Fear, the noun, is often out of our control. A car runs a stoplight in front of us, and we slam on the brakes, barely missing it. We may pull over to the side of the road and shake for a few moments while gathering our wits. Fear, the noun, is a God-created natural phenomenon that heightens our reaction to potential danger.

Fear, the verb, describes being so distressed by something threatening, we give it the reverence reserved for God. The Psalmist used this verb form in the 23rd Psalm. It is also used in admonitions throughout the Bible to “fear not.” God is always with us in any peril we face, and God is mightier than any evil that confronts us.

We often use evil as an adjective describing a bad act. Evil is also a noun meaning the fact of suffering and wickedness, the totality of undesirable, harmful, wicked acts, experiences. It is also described as a cosmic force producing evil actions or states**.

Psalm 23 places God’s loving care as more powerful than evil, both as a cosmic force and all the bad acts it perpetuates. We indeed can take comfort in that.   

Prayer: God who is love and who loves beyond measure, we thank you for your abiding presence with us as we confront evil in our lives. Guide us in our responses that we do not return evil for evil but be conduits of your love to forge a better world. Amen.

*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/fear
**https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/EVIL

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Darkness to Light

Epiphany

January 20, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 9:1-4

But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
   have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
   on them light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation,
   you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
   as with joy at the harvest,
   as people exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden,
   and the bar across their shoulders,
   the rod of their oppressor,
   you have broken as on the day of Midian.

There are days when I feel like one walking in darkness. There is so much anger and hatred in our world. Evil likes to divide. Evil wins when we turn on each other. There are those who benefit, financially or politically or both, from our getting caught up in their influence. Truth is no longer a value, no longer dependably true. I have always liked Amos’* writing of living lives in alignment with God’s straight line like the plumb line builders use to assure that one brick is carefully in line with another. Today we use a tool called a level to help us hang pictures straight. As a people we seem to have lost our moral grounding. Evil and darkness are of course not new. Amos wrote in the 8th century BC.

Isaiah writes in the scripture above that God provides a great light for us enabling us to see the better way. We have the choice of not only accessing the light but shining it on all parts of our lives to help us see the way to walking the level way that give us endurance to overcome the lesser gods’ evil constantly dances before us.

Prayer: Lord, shine your light on our paths and guide our minds eyes to see what is level and what is not. Amen.

*Amos 7:7-15

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved. Since the Civil War all the wars in the USA were somewhere else, perhaps we were shaken more by the 9/11 bombings.

Dealing with Evil

Christmastide

December 27, 2019

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 2:10-18

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. –Hebrews 2:14-18

My mother told us when she was a little girl, but old enough to go to the outhouse by herself, she would run as fast as she could to that little building so the devil could not grab her by the legs and pull her into hell. She never told us who had planted that seed of fear in her, but it was very real. Her telling of this story, I am sure, was to assure us that God is always with us and God is always stronger than evil. Two thousand years after the book of Hebrews was written, we still have not ferreted out the dynamics of evil verses good or death for that matter.

Evil remains active in our world today. I read about it on all the various ways of collecting information. Evil Is very astute at selling its worth. Evil requires us to be intentional about avoiding become enticed and enslaved by it. All those wonderful sources of information are also outlets for the spreading of misinformation designed to divide us as a people and take advantages of our vulnerabilities. One of my primary tests when considering new information is asking the question: does this information or behavior pass the test of God’s love? Will what it is selling be good for the betterment of all God’s children not just a few? Is it striving to make us afraid of our brothers and sisters rather than heal relationships? You may want to add your own tests, but it helps to have some measures of worth ready to help us discern what is right, what is just.

Prayer: God of Mercy and Justice, guide is at every step of our way in discerning what is of God and what is not> Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Evil and Good

Advent

December 17, 2019

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

How and when do we learn to refuse the evil and choose the good? What does that even mean? Does being made in the image of God mean that we innately have the capacity to recognize the difference between good and evil? What is good or evil anyway?

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines good as something that possesses desirable qualities, promotes success, welfare, or happiness, or is otherwise beneficial*. Evil is defined as the totality of undesirable, harmful, wicked acts, experiences, and things and something that is injurious to moral or physical happiness or welfare**.

Strong’s describes good as used in Isaiah 7 as moral and evil as ethically bad, evil, wicked**.

It seems to me that goodness begets more goodness; evil begets more evil. Jesus made it simple. Loving God and loving are neighbors as we love ourselves grows more love. Failing to love in either instance smothers love. We all are gifted with the ability to love and we are all required to be intentional about loving ourselves and loving one another. Alas, we are also all capable of choosing evil.

Prayer: Lord write on our hearts the knowledge of how to refuse the evil and choose the good.

*http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/good

**https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2896.htm;  https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7451.htm

http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/evil

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Evil

Advent

December 11, 2019

Scripture Reading: Psalm 1:5-10 (11)
Their ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, out of their sight;
    as for their foes, they scoff at them.
They think in their heart, “We shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.”
Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
    under their tongues are mischief and iniquity.
They sit in ambush in the villages;
    in hiding places they murder the innocent.
Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
    they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert;
they lurk that they may seize the poor;
    they seize the poor and drag them off in their net.
They stoop, they crouch,
    and the helpless fall by their might.
They think in their heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”


What is evil? According the Mirriam-Webster evil is

1 a. the fact of suffering and wickedness:  the totality of undesirable, harmful, wicked acts, experiences, and things
  b. a cosmic force producing evil actions or states
  c. (1) wickedness, sin (an offense against God)
      (2) the wicked or undesirable element or portion of anything

While the Psalm quoted above describes well the various forms that evil takes in our world, the final verse quoted, verse 11, was not included in the lectionary selection but I think it may be at the heart of evil. Does not evil result when a person or a society reaches the point that They think in their heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”?

Evil becomes the norm in our society when we as a people no longer have in our hearts the measure of God’s love by which to judge the efficacy of our actions, when we have lost our moral compass. Like our Hebrew ancestors before they were taken into exile, I fear we are at the crisis point in our society of letting evil win and worse still, claiming our actions are ordained by God as we define God’s intentions to our benefit.

Advent is the time to search our hearts and examine whether we know God is with us, shines God’s face upon us, and sees everything we are and we do. If we find in such and examination that our connection to God is not complete, let us remember that Christ has come, is with us now, and is coming again. We only need to reconnect with God.

Prayer: Lord forgive us when we think that you have forgotten us. Open our hearts to your presence and heal our troubled souls. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Left to Us

Lent
March 17, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 13:31-35

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”’

Another mass shooting happened yesterday as I write. This time in New Zealand; this time at a Mosque; this time white supremacist claimed credit. I can envision Jesus sitting on a hillside looking down on our whole world and uttering the words:  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

It struck me recently that the United States of American is now Egypt or Rome. Either will do as an example. They were both great empires that thrived and then failed because of their greed and lust for power. Egypt once welcomed the stranger, Joseph’s family, but later became their oppressor. Rome is known for its amazing building innovations, the idea of newspapers, caring for the welfare of its citizens, roads and highways, even the calendar we now use*. Yet it crumbled from corruption, too much emphasis on military might, and not enough on climate change and disease**. Sound familiar?

Jesus said in the scripture above, See, your house is left to you. We still have a choice in the United States of America. We can choose to turn around and seek the Common Good not only for our nation but for the world or we can join the ranks of our predecessors who could not overcome evil with good.

We have an advantage if we are willing to accept it. The vision of a Kingdom ruled by loved as seen through the eyes of the one who can save us, Jesus Christ.

Prayer:
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways;
reclothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise***. Amen.

*https://www.history.com/news/10-innovations-that-built-ancient-rome
**The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire by Kyle Harper
***First verse of Dear Lord and Father of Mankind  by John Greenleaf Whittier see at https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/dear-lord-and-father-of-mankind/
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Power of Love

Living in the Spirit
August 21, 2018

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43

‘Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name—for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when a foreigner comes and prays towards this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built. 1 Kings 8:41-43

God spreads the fear of love. While the Bible includes all kinds of stories of violence carried out in the name of God, God’s own rules posit that love is more powerful than any violence that exists. Violence is the tool of lust for power and greed. God having no need for either, invests all efforts in wanting the very best for all God’s creatures and the worlds in which they exist. God’s power of love is the only force that can overcome the power of evil and evil does fear it.

In preparation for a bible study, I will be facilitating this fall about the return from Babylon of the Israelites to Jerusalem, I have been studying recently the fall of Israel when it was taken into captivity. That made me wonder about the failure of Rome, so I started looking at its history. Both explorations invoked concern for the USA as we seem to be falling into the same behaviors. Both the history of the fall of Israel and of Rome are presented very pessimistically as inevitable. The principalities and powers of evil cannot be contained.  I disagree with the inevitability of the USA failing but our path to salvation is daunting.

 The only power that is greater than the powers of evil is the power of love and evil knows that. Evil works hard at coercing the energy of love into selfish gain robbing it of its true nature and thus its power. Divide and concur is one of evil’s favorite tools.

Those of us who trust in the power of God, in the power of love which is one and the same thing must work hard to purify its components in our own lives and love evil to death and resurrection into the body of Love.

Prayer:  Lord, create in us pure hearts and so fill us with your love the only inevitable result will be more love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Light

Lent
March 11, 2018

 Scripture Reading: John 3:14-21

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’ –John 3:19-21

There is an attitude in our land that If I do something, it is right even if it is wrong when someone else does it. I think Jesus would label that hypocritical. Most prominent in politics, it crosses all strata of life.  I lost count of the Oklahoma legislators who have resigned this year for inappropriate behavior; I think it is four, but it may be five. These are the people who are supposed to be writing the laws by which we are to live and appropriating the use of our tax dollars.

Many talk in holier-than-thou language. One Congressman from Pennsylvania, a very outspoken abortion foe, was caught telling his girlfriend to get an abortion*. Apparently, all his abortion stand meant to him was some guaranteed votes. I think such behavior stems from assuming power people do not have. The problem is: we let them get away with it. Evil does prevail in darkness where we only see what we want to see through the tunnel vision of our sins.

My high school had a Halloween carnival one year where we created a scary room in which we lead people along a darkened path making them think they were near the edge of a ledge, dipped their hands in a bowl of eyeballs they could not see that were grapes in egg whites, and other frightening experiences that if participants had seen would have made them laugh at their fear.

Darkness and the evil it protects is overcome by light.  In John 8:12 Jesus is quoted as saying:

 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’

As followers of Christ, we are called to amplify his light so that all can transition from darkness to light.

Prayer: God of Light, help us to let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Amen.

*https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2017-10-04/pro-life-rep-tim-murphy-pressured-mistress-to-get-abortion
**Based on Matthew 5:16

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Constant Communion

Lent
February 17, 2018

Scripture Reading: Mark 1:9-15

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ –Mark 1:9-11

I am a nester. I like to keep my stacks of things in my immediate vicinity which requires me on occasion to shuffle through paper trying to find a specific document. The problem is that if I carefully file them away elsewhere, I can never remember how I filed them. Routinely, though I must face my stacks, organize them and in many instances throw several items away because they are no longer relevant. I am sure that is true of those things that I have transferred to a file cabinet.

We also collect a lot of clutter in our souls holding on to attitudes and opinions that were short-lived phenomena no longer having relevance but taking up space that could be put to better use.

The sequence of events in our scripture today suggests that Jesus faced the same problems. He is first washed clean in baptism after which the Spirit descends and he is identified as one with whom God is well pleased. He was in a sense cleared for takeoff when he is immediately challenged with temptation. The implication is that constant communion with God is crucial to maintaining our readiness for service in God’s kingdom. I think this includes routine clarifications as well as more in-depth times of examination and refreshing of our souls.

Prayer: Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true
And with thanksgiving, I’ll be a living, sanctuary, oh for you* Amen

*From Lord Prepare Me, to be a Sanctuary see at https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/29786117

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Evil and the God of Love

Ordinary Time
January 28, 2018

Scripture Reading: Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

I do not have a great understanding of what were dubbed demons in the first century or the people who display similar behavior today with symptoms now given a psychological tag. I did read M. Scott Pecks book People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil several years ago, which explored similar situations.

I remember well sitting on suicide watch all night in a general hospital with a young teen awaiting his transfer to a psychiatric facility. Although heavily sedated, he cycled through stages of agitation looking at me wildly declaring he was Jesus Christ and he was to save the world, eventually wearing himself out until he collapsed on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. He would later awake proclaiming he had committed blasphemy by declaring himself the Christ and he needed to die for his sin. I even remember thinking this is like the demons in some of Jesus’ stories. There is so much we do not know.

I no longer question that evil takes many forms, and I am not sure if some type of mental illness is one of them. I am sure that humans can get so caught up in layers of self-deceit colored by many descriptors such as envy, greed, lust, hunger for power, violence that they alone cannot escape the chains those manifestations have on them. Jesus Christ can and does return people to wholeness when we let him.

Prayer: Spirit of the Living God protect us from evil, lead us to the empowerment of your love that heals the sin-sick soul. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.