Demons and Angels

In the last couple of months, I have heard a lot more usage of the phrase "their demons" as in a person battling their demons. Probably most associated with the death du jour of the most recent celebrity because of self-destruction...

Most people using the phrase are utilizing it euphemistically. They don't believe in the cosmic personality Lucifer, the fallen Archangel and his minions like Orcs in Lord of the Rings. Instead, demons is a term synonymous to addictions. Particularly, in drug and alcohol abuse. Addictions are like an itch, the more one scratches them, the more scratching ensues. A iron cycle of cause and effect. A Merry Go-Round that goes faster and faster until the gears grind and the engine blows. Who should want a stupid fake gold ring anyway?

I have been in a mode of stripping down recently. Less food and drink, a desire to stabilize the pendulum of consumption from excess and deprivation. My gut is a daily reminder that, like Rome, it was not built in a day. It is going to take a while to come back into balance. I have a tendency to go over and then under the line and in the end, the cycle covers a lot of miles and the result is that I am back where I started. Moderation is a hard island to find on the map of personal wellness.

After watching the film Anna Karena the other night, based Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece novel, I dreaded the inevitable tragic trajectory of the story. Knowing that Tolstoy grappled mightily with issues of the battle between good and evil in the heart of each person, I feared the worst as the train of the film went from one station to another. The film was beautifully rendered, despite being tragic. Besides the annoying English accents of the actors, the ingenious blending of the stage and scenery was remarkable. Well done English accents I suppose were better than ridiculous Russian accents like Boris in Rocky and Bullwinkle.  

Who cannot but relate to the Tolstoy line in the book: “If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.” That was the underlying message of the novel/film best illustrated by Anna K.'s descent into wanting more and finding less. Illicit Romance falls, Ruins remain. Reality wins.

Due to my monk-like state, premature Lent, I have been pondering such issues personally more and more. I thought of a maxim the other nights of "Starve the Demons, Feed the Angels." I am one who believes in the personality of evil, I am a non-allegorist in regards to the existence of the fallen beings, former angels, who rebelled against God. Now demons, their ultimate goal in existence, is like their Master, "To steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10). Abundant Life versus Abundant Death. How else can we describe the power and evil over our lives and world if not a personal battle in a larger war? Who do we fight, who do we feed? Often the army that wins is the army that eats, all else being equal. The Devil is not God's equal, although he acts as if he is. Hence, the problem. And when we try to act as God, we become devils.

Our age "pooh-poohs" the reality of evil but never before has the specter of evil loomed so ominously on the horizon of humanity. Our infinite capacity of self-destruction is first aided and abetted by our inability to see if for what it is, rebellion against God. If we have not the correct assessment of the cause, the cure will elude us. The medication of works is powerless against this plague. The Cross is positioned right in the middle of the horrid mess confirming both the existence of evil and the remedy for it, incarnating outwards with both a warning and a welcome.

Behold the goodness and severity of God, as Paul writes in Romans.