The Devil is in the Details

He may not have a red cape, horns, bushy slanted eyebrows or a pointy thing "what sticks," but this fella is no red herring. He loves the attention of the faithful, the fearful and the faint; as well as the rejection by intellectuals and their lot as a figment of some undefined mythical antecedents of our cultural past. The Devil does devil good.

Biblical words that indicate his prowess include the Greek words diabolos, slanderer, apollyon, destroyer and the Hebrew words abaddon, destoyer, and satan, adversary or accuser. These characteristics are supreme in their inferiority. Their sense is negative, unproductive and clearly destructive in nature. The Devil does devil good.

But the Devil also gets a bad rap. He is seen as the root of all evil by some and thus the "creator" of all that is bad. The Devil, by some appraisals, is the grinning genie behind all the storms of life. He tracks us down as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, to be Biblical. He is, by some estimations, the force behind all our evil, ungodly, and destructive choices. But most times, we humans do devil good.

Testimonial alert!

I don't need the Devil to help me choose stupid. I am quite capable of doing that myself. I find within me the capacity to fulfill the dark desires of this flesh in which I reside. The Greek word for flesh is "sarx," and that is exactly the great tension that I find. It sarx to deal deal with this flesh. My body loves Twinkies, soda, my taste in music, my kind of everything and my way! Paul outlines this so profoundly in Romans 7, crying out with almost defeated gusto, "Who will save me from this body of death?" Yet, Paul had the answer immediately. "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Christ Jesus is the answer to the problem and the Devil is only partially the problem. Most of our problem is us.

We want to deflect the blame. It is our human right! Let them have it, is our rallying cry. But the truth is that we are the main culprits. We are the primary suspects of culpability when problems arise. I don't like that, but, if we are honest, that is the way it really is. We do devil good.

I hope that somehow the trust in Christ, which I have offered to Him, will see fruit in my body, as I continue to thank Him for His marvelous work within me and, by faith, persevere. I may trip up now and again, but the "Lord is the One" who holds my hand. And He will deal with the Devil good.

In Memory of a Friend (A repost)

Here is a poem I wrote for a great friend of mine. She was a co-worker for many years in a private Christian school. She taught English. When she was the students' teacher, they hated her strict adherence to form and grammar. Later, they lauded her teaching style and its effect on each of them. Her memory is still a blessing to me and I thought you might like to get to know her. She went home to be with the Lord on April 4, 2012.

In Honor of Jan Meadows

She’s a vixen, a harpy, a raptor,
When it come to words.
Nay the rapier and foil are insufficient for her labor.
Give her the mighty claymore to slash
And hew the hopeful’s prose.

And yet, though honored not in sync
With their moment
They all fall in capitulation to her power
With admiration for the very thrashing
They received at her hand.

O hark unto me, you who know not her acumen.
May all give her glory who have known
Her whip, her lash, her work of love.
She is the wonder of a woman
From the fields, rhetorically speaking.