If we live in fear we have lost.
On the other hand, we already live inside an inescapable Global system of evil, administered by demonic powers and their servants and dupes - and the meshes of this web are tightening.
The good news is that we can win this battle, whatever the odds may be; and maybe even enjoy the process.
The situation resembles one of those horror movies in which the vampires cannot enter unless invited. But this applies to our souls rather than our houses; which means we can live well in the midst of evil, so long as we don't invite it in...
Of course, sooner or later, we will invite-evil-in; given the pervasiveness of temptation. What then?
In the vampire movies, that would be the end of the matter; but in real life, people can fail and fall; but then repent and win.
We live in a spiritual war. That is the first and most important insight.
And the spiritual war is won in the end by repentance, not by indomitable strength in resistance. There is no limit to the number of defeats, of lost battles; so long as each loss is recognised, and repented the war will be won.
Repentance has unlimited power, and unlimited battery life...
So we should focus on what enables a person to repent. And that is having something better to live for.
To repent, the person must have within them (as a lived experience) something better than what is being pushed onto them from outside, by the demonic web.
The first and vital battle is over whether there really is a spiritual war.
The spiritual war was initiated by the demonic powers with the objective of denying that there is a war.
When a person becomes convinced that there is not a spiritual war, the demons have won a soul; because that person will not repent - because he regards himself as having nothing to repent.
The victory of evil will only be achieved when this outcome is regarded as a victory of Good
The point is therefore not to live a life of 100% successful resistance against overwhelming odds; but simply to know when we have been beaten.
The danger here - in the spiritual war - is not the matter of being beaten in a specific battle, but in not realising that there has-been a battle, not realising that one has-been defeated. Because on the one hand, defeats are inevitable; on the other hand, no defeat is decisive so long as it is repented.
What is required to live in conditions of overwhelming adversity - under massively successful demonic influence - is to recognise Good and evil, and to take the side of Good. So long as that is the situation, then the individual can win any battle in an instant - and he will always be safe.
Indeed, so long as the individual knows Good from evil and recognises that it is easy to win any spiritual battle by repentance, then he is safe. He can get-on-with living, can appreciate life as best he may. He can enjoy the process of living, experiencing, learning...
Resisting evil is only the half of it, and without the other half it will fail. The other half is knowing and wanting Good.
And knowing Good is knowing God, as a person.
Faith, Hope and Charity - these are the positive virtues; the essence of a joyful life. The life of Faith is one of Hope based upon total confidence in the power of repentance to win against any odds; and the Love of God expressed in the choice of Good.
There is no need to live in fear; and if we are living in fear - we need to think again; because our faith is defective... something needs repenting.
2 comments:
Reading this last week was very encouraging for me, and timely.
I had some similar thoughts that I tried to articulate for myself, to muster hope and to motivate myself in a time when I have been feeling tried both by personal challenges and failures and the general state of our societies.
And then I read these hopeful and inspiring thoughts, at just the right time.
Thank you, Bruce.
AB - You're welcome.
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