Readings: Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2; Psalm 9; Luke 11:15-26
In the Gospel readings for today, Jesus confronts the issue that some of His detractors were raising – by whose authority did He expel demons. People were questioning whether Jesus was acting with good will, with authority from God, or channeling other powerful demons. It strikes me that for many of us a demon is a metaphor for the temptations and obsessions we find in our lives. I am old enough to recall the phrase “demon rum” to explain alcoholism; the “demon” possessed the person through the use of alcohol, destroying their normal life. Demon rum ruined someone’s marriage or family life. There are a variety of other forces that have potential to possess someone, to be a demon –the desire for success or power, maintaining good looks or health, drugs, sex, social media, video games, television, exercise, eating, and many others.
It seems to me the common thread throughout these obsessions and demons is that God provides us with good things that we corrupt through an unnatural attachment. Good health, alcohol, sex, pharmaceuticals, etc. are good things if they lead us closer to God, and bad if they don’t. We can put them to good use within moderation. Or we can abuse them, and become possessed by them. Even relationships can be disordered if they pull us away from God.
These disordered, unhealthy attachments should be resisted because they interfere with an authentic relationship with God. Having a drink in moderation for most of us would not interfere in our relationship with God and God’s creation but overindulging, can prevent us from engaging our true selves with those on the journey of life with us.
The gift of awareness enables us to drive out these demons: awareness is a gift that we receive every time we pause to discern what we are doing and why. The gift is based on our dependency on God to assist us in becoming wise in using them for God’s purposes. Let’s pause today to examine what we do, and why, and how God is present in that moment. My prayer today for you and me is for the grace to be in the moment, to be aware of the gift being presented by God, and to discern if I am using it as God intended.