Legion be Gone

Have you been walking along in life, minding your own business, peaceful and content, when out of the cranial darkness leaps an uninvited attacker, a predator, a monster whose sole purpose is to mess with your shui. The beast can take many forms, and like the demon Legion that Jesus cast out in that old story of long ago, can have many names, many faces, and many traits. The one, who has shown his face to the face of my soul, revealing his presence lately, has been irritation. Oh, I suppose his partner frustration is there with him as well. But then again, when the emotional demons arise, do they ever really travel alone?

Driving this morning, while many youth in the homes I passed remained sleeping in their summer slumbers of hibernation from the institution of education, it dawned on me that I've continued to meet these demons with the same reactions, never gaining a continual peace from them. In fact, I suppose I've actually increased their strength and tentacles that wrap through my brain past my heart into my soul. It dawned on me, I have to stop doing what I'm doing and gain a new, or more probable, an old, weapon against them.

Sir Thomas Browne wrote, "Nature is the Art of God", and how true he was, or is. Nature reminds us that nothing can defeat it for it is forever. We bomb it, burn it, cut it down, poison it, and yet, it continues to arise and if left unchecked, like a recent chemical commercial on TV dramatized, it will over power all in its way. It seems that the only real weapon against nature is nature itself; water cutting through rock, winds changing landscapes, lightening burning down forests, lava exploding and reshaping earth. I suppose we're like nature, in that we are a beautiful creation of God, a work of art, and in our emotional beasts, we become the true predator against our very creation.

Nature, the Art of God, is the visual, auditory, and scented beauty that can reshape our emotions, reminding us of our connection to God, destroying the power of the beast, and casting out the demon as Christ cast out Legion. And in nature, the most relaxing activities may be the ones in which we do absolutely nothing, within her sounds of chirping birds, water over stones in a brook, winds moving leaves in trees, and the smell of wild flowers. We cast out the demons of our minds, be they worry, frustration, anxiety, dread, or a host of others, that leech onto us in the chaos and busyness of our fast stress paced lives, as we enter the sanctuary of God's Nature, of His peace, of the centeredness he desires for us, demon free. All we have to do is be.

Today, listen in the quiet of a park, the trail of woods, the banks of a creek, or the CD of our living rooms. Today, silence the demons of your mind and let loose to the Nature of God. Remember the Nature of God, let your bodies remember the Nature of God, let your spirit enjoy and rest in the art of God's nature. Today, hear the sounds of nature, be in comfort, healing from the scars of the beast, allowing God to be your only owner, your only healer.


(The writings in this post are random thoughts and observations and are NEVER intended as professional or personal advice. Take what works and leave the rest. For information on mental health and/or substance abuse help, visit http://www.rodneyvalandra.com and refer to the links page.)