Life Lessons: XV The Devil
The old me would have been gobsmacked by the appearance of The Devil as this month’s card to look into. But the new me isn’t even surprised. Synchronicity is an amazing tool which is at our disposal, and when we learn to use it and simply go with the flow, life takes on a meandering quality that surpasses any satisfaction I ever received when trying to manipulate life to suit my own agenda.
The Devil has already shown up for the site twice in recent weeks, both times in Agony Aunt columns written by Gael, who works with 12 step issues.
In September it appeared when she did a reading for Ronaldo, a friend of hers who had been battling alcohol and drug abuse, which are the obvious temptations we usually associate with the appearance of this card.
And once, when helping Patty, whose housekeeping issues with her step daughter are causing problems. These were less obvious sins; in fact, were more like defects. And not even big defects, but the small annoying ones which form part of our character, and cause trouble just because of their very presence.
Fear
Although a greatly feared character, The Devil, when he appears does so to help us rectify situations which are causing us problems. So why are we afraid? Well, those of us who grew up with the Devil grew up with images of a malevolent creature who is constantly burning in Hell.
Our fear stems from the threat that was uttered to us that if we were bad, we would go to Hell. If we were bad in any way, that was the Devil placing Temptation in our way. And of course, only an evil person would accept Temptation offered by the Devil, wouldn’t they?
Really? If there is a bit of good in the worst of us, and a bit of bad in the best of us, then surely we are all subject to temptations from time to time. And after all, Sin is a matter of definition.
Temptation
How many of us have succumbed to the Temptation of an ice cream on a hot day? Most of us, I imagine, and we probably didn’t think it was a sin. But how many of us have eaten an entire bucket of ice-cream just because once we started we couldn’t stop. Well, not so many of us, but a few, I’d imagine. And was it a bad thing to do?
I suppose that depends on perspective. What harm did it really do? Perhaps we felt like we had sabotaged a diet? Perhaps we felt that if we carried on this way, we’d become bloaty and unattractive. Perhaps we were even consumed by guilt, and struggling to forgive ourselves for the overindulgence? Perhaps we were so distressed by it all, that we went and bought another tub, just to help drown our sorrows about eating the first one….
Forgiveness
And there we have it. Having succumbed to Temptation that once, we wallow in self-pity, fearing the effects of our actions, but torn by the desire to repeat those actions even though we know that they are wrong. Wishing it had never happened, but not knowing quite what to do about it. Well, the answer is simple. It’s forgiveness.
When we look at the image, we see that our poor victims who are burning in Hell are indeed captive. However, they are creating their own captivity. They are holding the chains which bind their necks. And it turns out that they can release the chains themselves, and walk away at any time. They are choosing to punish themselves because of the burning guilt they harbour. But once they accept that everything they have done is exactly as it was supposed to be, they can choose to learn lessons from it and walk away.
Of course there is an addendum. Once they have recognised the sin that is causing them the guilt which is causing the torment, then of course it stands to reason that they have to give up that sin. After all, if they repeat the sin, they will repeat the resulting torment. And this is a fundamental basis for reaching a rock bottom. Whatever the temptation we have been succumbing to, we are unlikely to be able to let it go until the torment outweighs the pleasure.
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