I’ve been reading about religion, and I just got to the section about Satan. For a little while, when I was younger, I thought there wasn’t Satan. It just didn’t make sense to me. It always seemed to me like a scapegoat. Human beings didn’t want to accept responsibility for all the evil in the world and so why not create a being to take responsibility for the evil in the world? It is ironic that the devil is often depicted with a goat’s head. I also think it is ironic that evil spelled backward is live and devil spelled backward is lived.
As I have grown older, I can’t help but notice that there are many things that I don’t understand in this world. There are definitely evil forces in this world. I have come to believe that when a person dies what is in the soul lives on. I hope that what’s in their soul is love, but I have to admit that there are some truly evil people who may never find redemption or salvation.
I would be filled with ignorance to believe that when everyone dies positive energy is released into the universe. After all, this world is made of dualities, and it is only in the beyond death that any of us can transcend that. So, if there are positive energies of paranormal in our world such as ghost, angels, etc. then there also must be negative energies as well in the form of demons, poltergeists, etc.
There must be a way to understand that temptation that exists beyond myself. How could I think of all the horrible things I could do, but would never do? What it is in all of us that tells us to jump off of the cliff when we stand at its edge even though none of us want to take our lives? It’s the evil in all of us and yet that exist in our collective unconsciousness. It’s the temptation we all struggle with our entire lives to decide the course of which path to take and why.
As much as I shape my reality, if I believe in God and my ability to know right from wrong, then I must also believe in an evil force or temptation within this world as well. Something that works in the negative energy. It isn’t something to be destroyed or dismissed. That force is something to be loved and respected because without it, my world would be without balance. At the same time, that force is the one that scare me the most. God ask me to have no others before him. This force will try in every way possible to deceive me to put it in front of God and I must be ever vigilant to never let it come between God and my faith.
It has been often said that the greatest trick of deception that the devil ever played was to convince the world he didn’t exist. If he doesn’t exist, then I don’t remain vigilant and on guard. Tonight, I repeat part of the Lord’s prayer: Dear Father, let me not into temptation and deliver me from evil.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
