To draw a line between good and evil is oftentimes complex. Few understood this better than Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Russian dissident under the Soviets, great literary figure, and deeply committed Christian. He wrote: "If only there were evil people somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being."
W.H. Auden said it more succinctly, "Evil shares our bed and eats at our own table." We have to recognize evil as a part of the human experience.
Most of us are rightly suspicious when talk turns to such a topic, and yet call it what you will - evil, destruction, Satan (remember the Church Lady on Saturday Night Live?), or demons - most of us are also intimately familiar with forces that hurt and destroy. And yet it's hard to know how to think about them, especially how to integrate belief in an active and good God with the reality of suffering in our world.
The gospel writers place special emphasis on two dimensions of Jesus' ministry: teaching and miracles. In alternating rhythm, Jesus heals some illness, casts out some demon, raises someone to new life, and then teaches his followers about God's power over all that would hurt and destroy, over the power of evil.
Given our nation's current social upheaval, as well as all manner of personal struggles we and our loved ones face regularly, it seems timely to explore the relationship of faith to the powers in our world that hurt and destroy. I'll take the next two weeks to do so and encourage you to bring a friend.
Warmly,
