The evil within

Friday February 6^th, Mark 1: 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" The unholy one encounters the Holy one in the Holy place.  Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves that it is not just “us and God” up in the heavens somewhere floating in a blissful relationship as the whole world goes to hell in a hand basket. There are others to contend with in this world, and we are called to love them also. The evil spirits knew who Jesus was long before Peter ever exclaimed; “you are the Christ the son of the living God.” The evil within each of us keeps us at bay with the Holy one lest we are tempted to be more than merely occasional worship attenders.  We don’t talk much about evil spirits in our day and age. We talk about personal responsibility; a person is bad because they choose to be bad, is how the common wisdom goes.  It gives us a little breathing room from the reality of our existence.  If only we can point the finger at someone else, perhaps Jesus won’t notice our own denial.  Jesus had a way of seeing a child of God in every person. Perhaps we should try that a bit more of that, starting with ourselves and extending into the world around us.