The Devil
by Slebo, Apprentice to Maitre MrBruno
This sermon is about the devil. He does exist make no mistake, but not in the way people think. As the Force (or God) is a fluid being, living within all living things so does the devil. The Force guides us through the bliss that helps others. The warm tingly feelings you get in your belly when you see an orphan open a donated Christmas present. The devil, being the extreme opposite is the high you feel after a shot of heroin or ever clear alcohol. Making you feel empty after and want it more by any means.
I'm a movie geek so please forgive the movie references. A good quote is, "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled off was convincing the world he never existed." Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects. I say this because he hides and infiltrates and speaks to us. The purpose is to feed on our spirit. As God builds us up, the devil crumbles us down. Through selfishness and addiction, the afflicted breed hate and anger and depression. All caused by that little whisper of temptation of that thing that you shouldn't be doing. You tell yourself "I won't do it again." Before you know it, you're arguing with yourself...yourself, in your own head. Do you really think that is you talking back?
As that voice gets louder as you feel that you are losing the fight, your spirit yields and gives in to the addiction. A five minute high in exchange for hiding from your family, money wasted, health degraded, lives taken and souls broken. Until all that's left is a feral shell with no dignity or conscience. That is when the devil has hold and is free. That does not mean you have to take it lying down. "The war between heaven and hell are based on the choices we make." Nicol Williaimson from Spawn.
Winning the fight can be a easy as stepping away from that door and going home to your family. I also base a lot of this belief in the last three minutes of "Revolver" where several philosophers, including Depac Chopra, call the devil another form of the Ego. This is the self centered consciousness that is fed on vice and bodily urges. We like to call this part of our mind the devil because it is the part that makes us give in, give up, step out, and crumble down. Also, we don't want to take responsibility for it, "The devil made me do it."
We all know the fight against temptation, the do say it is the root of all evil anyway. We fight back in our minds by screaming louder and chasing it down until it runs away and hides in the place in our mind that we don't want to go, our pain. Try to quit the addiction and it physically hurts, try to do that sixtieth push up and it hurts, taking responsibility for ones own actions, it all hurts. When we stop and let the devil get away, rest assured he will come back to fight another day, starting with just a whisper.
To be spiritually vigilant, one must be focused and have self control to not only resist temptation but to also fight through the pain. Fight through that and the devil will have no leg to stand on in your soul. Follow your bliss and the warm fuzzies will follow. No pain for you or those you love (none at least caused by you) and then find your own personal heaven. Be it teaching young minds, wrapping a blanket around a displaced veteran, or saving the lives of broken souls. That is the root of peace.
