I Don't See Demons

I am now 38 years old, on my way to obtaining a doctorate, father of two, co-pastor of a wonderful church, and one who is categorized as progressive to post-liberal and I confess that I believe in real demons. I have for years now.

The bad news is that the demons don’t reveal themselves to me.

The worse news is that they don’t have to.

Years ago one Christian, Abraham, asked his teacher, Poemen, about how the demons fight. It is assumed that Abraham desired to know how the demons fought in order to defeat the demons himself. Sort of a “know thy enemy” approach.

When Poemen heard the question, he was shocked. Poemen was shocked to hear that the demons actually fight Abraham. One might be tempted to think that Poemen was a liberal “enlightened” Christian who did not believe in demons and was trying to teach the student that in fact there are no such things as demons. Rather, Poemen was shocked to hear that Abraham thought he was worthy enough for the demons’ time.

Poemen knew there are only a limited number of demons and so they have to be judicious in how they spend their energy. They have to pick fights with people who are real threats to the kingdom of division and injustice. Poemen knew Abraham well enough to know that Abraham was not a real threat to the demons so they would not spend resources to fight him. According to one translation Poemen’s response was:

Is it the demons who attack you? It is not the demons who attack me. When we follow our self-will then our will seem like demons and it is they who urge us to obey them. If you want to know the kind of people with whom the demons fight, it is Moses and those like him.’

I am like Abraham, I think that I am struggling against demons of fear, anger, lust, hatred and division. If only this were true! The reasons I don’t see demons is that I am not worth their time. I am distracted enough fighting with my own will that I don’t need any help from demons to pull me from the love, mercy and forgiveness of God. I am doing a fine job on my own.

I believe in demons and they are alive and well in this world. They torment my fellow sisters and brothers who are very real threats to the kingdom of division and injustice. I pray for those who threaten the work of the kingdom of division and injustice because they are very much under attack. Those who are helping to usher in the Kingdom of Mercy and Justice - those are who the demons spend their time tormenting. These are the ones who are helping to usher in the Kingdom of God:

Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, William Barber, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Liz Theoharis, Ibram X. Kendi… or as Poemen described them those like Moses.

As for me, I am so bound to following my own will that my first action is to repent so to learn the will of God. That means I need to listen less to my own mind and more to those like Moses.

One day I hope to see a demon because then I will know that I am a real threat to the kingdom of division and injustice.

Lord have mercy.

Demons Don't Mess With Me!

As a child there were few people in the world as intimidating as Mike Tyson. No one messed with Mike Tyson. He was small, mighty, strong and fearless - all things that I desired to be physically. As I grew older I discovered that I was not the physical specimen that Tyson was so they physical strength was out of the question. However, I applied these same desired attributes toward my spiritual formation. That is I wanted to be as mighty, strong and fearless so that even the demons would be afraid to mess with me. 

Poemen

By St. Poimen Greek Orthodox Broterhood Arizona, USA

Poemen on Wiki

As I come into my thirty-sixth year of life, I can proudly say that demons do not mess with me, but not because I am strong and mighty.  

One of the desert teachers of Christianity from the late antiquity period was given the name Abba Poemen. Abba Poemen was asked by a student "Why do the demons attack me?"

Abba Poemen said to him, "Is it the demons who attack you? It is not the demons who attack me. When we follow our self-will then our wills seem like demons and it is they who urge us to obey them. If you want to know who the demons really attack, it is against Moses (another Abba) and those like him." - The Desert Fathers by Benedicta Ward

I am less like Mike Tyson to the demons and more like "Glass Joe" - which is why the demons don't mess with me. I am easily overwhelmed by my own ego and self will to be any threat to a demon. 

Why Lent NEEDS to be 40 days

Lent is a season in the Church that is marked by prayer, fasting, almsgiving and repentance. This is the season that is very popular among clergy types, mainly because it encourages everyone to do things that clergy types desire people to do throughout the year - Lent just makes these things socially acceptable. 

There are more than enough posts and resources that explain the significance of the 40 days of Lent (or more, depending on who is counting). There is all sort of traditional and biblical connections to the number 40 and those are rich metaphors to consider when thinking about Lent. But there are many significant numbers in the tradition and Bible (basically the numbers 1-42, 50, 70, 120, etc.). So why 40 for Lent? Why not 12 days? Why not 30? 

Perhaps the reason Lent needs to be 40 days is because that is how long it takes to move into the desert of our souls and wrestle with our demons. The ancient Desert Christians thought that going into the desert was literally where the demons lived. As such, they would go out in order to 'battle' these demons on behalf of others. Demons are tricky, they can hide very well from us and maybe this is why the desert Christians did not feel they could wrestle with demons while still living in town. It takes a while to find demons, it makes sense to move in and dwell on their 'turf'.

Because our demons are masters of disguise in order to find them we have to unmask a lot of who we are. This task takes time. It is difficult to unmask all parts of ourselves to discover what is our true self and what are the demons lurking in us, wreaking havok. Forty days may be the amount of time it takes to do such work. 

Everyone starts a Lent fast strong, but after a few days (as we move closer to our inner demons) the fast gives way. We forget why we embarked on this task to begin with and it it just easier to let the masked remain. May we fight the good fight and wrestle with our demons for these 40 days. 

It may also be worth noting that the desert Christians not only believed the desert was were the demons lived, but it was also where the angles lived. Just as the presence of God was with Moses, Jacob and Jesus in the desert, so too God will be with us in our desert time.