The Cast of Demons

I saw demons last week - lots of them. I swatted them, I yelled at them, I stepped out of the way and finally gave up. And then they went away. They went away for a while - because they had won.

Now before you decide that I have lost my marbles (or I suppose yell out "Amen, brother!") let me make clear that I did not see the grey-green fluttering kind. I didn't actually see them, like you would see a kite, or a car, or a spider. But I felt them - or felt what they were doing. Well, I guess that still sounds crazy - or it would have sounded crazy to me a few weeks ago.

So let me explainI have been doing a lot of studying of Christian and Judaic scripture - and you cannot escape reading about devils and demons there.

And I have been listening to some of the more charismatic preachers and they talk about the devil all the time. And I have been trying to read all this with as open a mind as possible.

There is a very common expression among Christians today: "What would Jesus do?" I find this thoughtful, but ultimately frustrating. Jesus might have been a carpenter at one time, but during his years of ministry he did not have a formal job or salary. He did not have a rent or mortgage - he was homeless. We don't hear about much about his problems with his family (although it is clear that there were many). We don't see him dealing with either dating or marriage. So who knows what he would do?

So if I don't know what Jesus would want me to do in a specific situation, could I ask what the Devil most wants me NOT to do?

A few weeks ago, one of these preachers mentioned one specific demon that lived wrapped around her waist. It whispered to her that she was unattractive and undesirable whenever she passed the mirror. And this same demon would be heard when she passed a fast food restaurant on a diet. "If you don't eat something now - you will die!" it would say. It's objective was not to capture her immortal soul for the underworld, it was to steal specific joys from her life, to attack her self-confidence, her very self-image and it was relentless and powerful. Powerful enough, that she could not defeat it alone.

But let me tell you how I saw my first demon, or more appropriately identified my first demon. For I had met this particular one many times before.

I had a business conflict with another firm (I have mentioned this recently in another post) and specifically with another individual at that firm - let's call him Albert.

I got an email from a client requesting a copy all of the files we were keeping on her behalf. A couple of days later, I learned why. Albert had called her and told her that I was in dire financial straits and was going out of business so she had better make sure to get back-ups of anything I had. She was very worried - both about my firm and concerned about Albert's professionalism (she had contracted his firm to do some other work).

I was incensed. The man was insane. He was actually harming his own reputation in his bid to harm mine.
Now this guy had been sending me verbally abusive emails since I started screening his verbally abusive calls. I had then set up my computer to file all his nasty emails directly into a folder so that I would not even see them, and he would not continue to spoil my days. This had worked well - but clearly he was branching out.

And so I HAD to look in that folder and of course it was not empty. And I had to read them - and I was enraged. The demon laughed at this point, but I did not hear it.

And so I crafted a sharp email - outlining the stupidity and malevolence of his action. And the reply was almost instantaneous. And I was typing hard and angrily at the keys immediately. And hitting Send felt good in a really bad way.
This demon's name is Vengeance - and he had me wrapped around his finger. But I saw him. My reaction felt automatic - my instinct to strike back. But as my friend would later point out - this man was trying to upset me and he was winning.
But seeing the demon was not enough to defeat him. I KNEW the solution was to just drop it. Let it go. But easier said then done.

Like so many other things, the solution seemed to be admitting that I was powerless over it.

There is a story in the bible of a group of seven men who tried to cast out a demon on their own.

Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.  One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. Acts 19:14-16

Demons according to the New Testament, unlike Hollywood, do not respond to amulets, or hexes or incantations, but to authority of a higher power. They are beaurocrats. And according to modern preachers, if a man or a woman tries to battle a demon on their own, they are doomed to failure.