Readings:
1 Thessalonians 5:1-6,9-11
Luke 4:31-37
Reflection
We have another story of a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil in today’s gospel. The devil recognised Jesus as the Holy one. And then it shouted in frustration at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?’
Now, this could be the inner voice in each one of us when we are controlled by the devil of anger, pride, jealousy, hatred and so on. But the response of Jesus is very therapeutic. Jesus says, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil went out of him without hurting him at all.
This is the right response to the destructive devils that rise in our hearts time to time. To be quiet; to stay calm and let the negative emotions exit gently without hurting us. This is possible only by immersing ourselves in awareness.
Our mind has four dimensions.
- The discerning or discriminatory dimension that happens at the level of intellect. This is necessary to distinguish one from the other. But too much of this can keep us divided. This is the cause of divisions and discrimination in the world.
- The accumulative dimension at the level of memory. Every encounter we have, leaves us with heaps of impressions.
- The awareness dimension. Here, the mind is non-judgmental. It takes intellect and memory into its realm and sees the reality just as they are.
- The dimension of identity. This enables us to have a sense of identity. However, if identity is not managed with awareness, then it can be destructive too. Ex: Ethnic identity, Race identity, Cultural identity and so on.
So awareness is a key dimension of our mind which needs sharpening so that we recognise the destructive devils that arise in us time to time based on our circumstances. The moment we become aware, we begin the journey of calming down and letting the devils exit our system without destroying us.
Justin Durai Raj CP
St. Joseph’s Community,
Hobart, Tasmania.