And the man who was possessed was told to 'go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you'. This is the man who had been possessed by a 'legion' of spirits. A man possessed. I admit, this sort of thing scares me. I think about it when I hear of some horrific event that someone has perpetrated on another or on society. Certainly, no rational person would behave in such a manner. What threw them over the edge, what 'possessed' them to act in whatever evil way they have? I say to myself that I almost want to know what was going through their mind but then, I'd be crazy too if I could understand such behavior.
I will agree that there is such a thing as being possessed. I find it difficult to beleive that it is a choice. Is it as simple as saying yes to evil? Are we simply pushed and pushed , or incited to such extreme anger that we begin to think irrationally? We all know, especially in today's society that there are voices of evil out there, lurking and now boldly showing their faces because they have been shown it is politically acceptable to be that way. All beacuse one person crawled out from under a rock and was elected to the highest office in the land.
This my seem like a digression but I want to note something about attendance at church. So many people say that they do not have to attend church to be holy or spiritual. That is true up to a point. However, unless you are heavily committed to taking the time and spending it devoted to your spirituality, all you will hear is a plethora of competing voices from society and you deprive yourself of the support of the voices and love of people you should have in that church setting, whatever it is. Further, it seems to me that by not attending services we show a fundamental disrespect for ourselves in the blessing we bestow on others by our own attendance. We witness in our very attendance.
When we do not attend church or specifically devote time to say thank you and worship, we open ourselves to all those competing and errant voices of society that are devoid and contra to God and love and the Spirit. While the Spirit is alive and everywhere, there are so many errant voices and voices of hate that we really need support to avoid, negate, undermine. Our strength is in a community of love and worship.
I find love and support in the Episcopalian church. I am free to believe that which makes sense to me. I am free to sidestep questions that trouble me while I devote myself and my life to the larger goal and mission of God's love in the world. I need that connectedness and support or else all I may hear is the evils, the injustices and the sounds of narrow voices devoid of love.
This all surrounds what I suppose is my theory of the legion of evil that exists in the world. Church attendance will not solve everything, especially if you try the likes of the Westboro Baptist Church or some orthodox right wing church concerned more with ministrations than ministries. Church attendance is a dedicated time to give to our God in thanksgiving and love. That alone should be good enough reason alone to set aside time.
Mark 5:1-20
They came to the other side of the lake, to the country of the Gerasenes.And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; and he shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.’ For he had said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; and the unclean spiritsbegged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned in the lake.
The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it.Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
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