"DEMONS" AND FREEDOM

(written on October 19, 2005)

Reading the story in Mark’s gospel this morning about the mute boy who was possessed by a “demon”, I was reminded of my own situation as a teacher. The boy’s evil spirit often tossed him around and made him go “stiff as a board”, and the same sort of thing sometimes happens to me. I get all frustrated, worked up, anxious, worried, and discouraged about my teaching, just as if I’m “possessed” by a devil or a demon – and, in a very true sense, I am. I am controlled, in those instances, by a belief – damaging beliefs are the only true devils – that the world is a material place and I am a separate material creature who has to battle to become a good teacher. This belief shakes me up and causes me to act like an insecure, frustrated child. What I must to in those instances is recover what Mark calls a “sense of God” – an understanding of the spiritual nature of the entire universe. If I can regain that sense, then I will instantly become calm (because the devil-belief has disappeared). I will see that it is actually impossible to be frustrated, because there are no “things” or material forces “out there” to frustrate me. I will have the serene understanding that I am always a part of the one infinite and unopposed Mind, or God, that governs the universe. This mind works in constant harmony because there is no other mind to work against it, or cause disharmony. Realizing this, I will feel totally free as a teacher, just like the boy who was released from his demon-beliefs by Jesus. I will see that nothing can go wrong in my classroom, because the one Power (sometimes called God) governs everything that happens in it.