Where the wild things are......

Almost anyone in the US who has read the literature of the youngest among us are familiar with Maurice Sendak's Where the  Wild Things Are.  Wonderfully illustrated, it congers up the vibrant  monsters that roam the imaginations of young minds. A little odd looking, a little frightening....but not too much. These wild things are manageable.

As we grow older, the monsters of our imagination are not so tame.  Hiding behind trees or under our beds, these monsters too come out as the darkness falls and we try to settle into some semblance of rest.  These monsters have names like 'sending my children to college' or 'the heart disease in my family' or 'making a fool of myself at work' or 'the dead space in my marriage.' These are the wild things of our imaginations: real possibilities in our frail lives. They rob us of peace.

They, however, are not demons.
Demons are evil.

Demons want death in all its forms and simply for the sake of the terror and pain that are possible.  They worm their way into our minds through our ear canals and take possession of the space where imagination begins and terror develops.  They squeeze in through our eyes and forever mar our vision of this world and its inhabitants.  They are absorbed through our skin and make their way into our hearts and slowly change human flesh into stone. The demons will drive us right out of our minds.

Like that guy in Gerasene, the naked one, raving and howling at the moon and living among the bones of the dead.  With strength that breaks open the strongest chains, these demons hold their victim captive, a prisoner in his own body.  These demons are powerful.....very powerful....and they strike fear into the hearts of all the villagers.  Luke 8.26ff

Yet, they are no match for Jesus, the Divine One, the power of life from the first cell to the last trumpet....and to the very last pig as well.  In the presence of the Creator, they are powerless.

I know that modern, enlightenment folk don't believe in demons.  Yet someone walked into an elementary school and shot 20 little children plus their teachers to death.  Someone walked into a nightclub at closing and methodically murdered 49 young people.  Tomorrow, someone will walk with evil and bring death into a new corner of this world.

Come Lord Jesus, quickly come.  We are killing ourselves here.