LIFE AS A HUMAN

The Battle of Good Versus Evil

By Mary Rose | Monday, September 5, 2011 at 12:10 am | Leave a Comment

Mary Rose explores the ongoing battle between good and evil, and how we can tap into our authentic strength and make choices that resonate with the highest good.

In life, we have choices. We often pare things down to two: Do or don’t. Doing is great when the outcome assists in our becoming better than we were yesterday, but not doing can often accomplish this task just as well.

The cartoons I watched as a child depicted the scenario of choice well. When a decision was to be made, a little devil and angel would appear on opposite shoulders and tell the cartoon character what to do and why. The devil was often depicted as a wily, funny, happy-go-lucky, party guy with clever arguments. He whispered in the direction of immediate gratification, in an attempt to block out the softer voice of the angel on the other side.

In reality, the softer voice is humbled strength. To go the way of rebellion is to prove how small and easily influenced we are. To act on rebellious impulse might feel like a show of strength and independence in the moment, but when the moment is over, done and gone, so is our power to choose. With choice gone, we fit easily in the cage of small mind. Repeating the same mistakes over and over is the only choice we are left with. The illusive voice of rebellion mixes lies with truth in order to confuse us into remaining prisoners.

If ego were a balloon, the little devil on our shoulder would be the helium that inflates it. But what goes up must come down.

Even atheists and agnostics cannot escape this inevitability.

Today, I feel deeply distressed, thinking about what happened in Norway. How one person listened to his own deluded ego and decided that it was up to him to “cleanse the world” of those who he felt do not belong here. Like every other coward, his targets were the innocent.

Following in the footsteps of Hitler, we must remember his hope was not only to impose his idea of fascist eugenics on the world, but to take away the innocence, hope and love of those who remain. Using fear, he tried to dismantle the remaining faith of those who are strong enough to turn their backs on the selfish whims of their own whispering devils; who choose to believe in something other than hate.

Despite the sadness in my heart, my faith remains. And to those who wonder about faith, I can only say that one does not have to believe in a higher power to have faith in what is good . For those who choose to impose their selfish lost hopelessness on others — to pretend to defend the vulnerable, lonely, small, hurt little child inside all of us — your lonely cell awaits. You can be master of nothing in that small cell.

In the end, you will beg for the things you stole from others; empathy, love and forgiveness. And when you do, you will realize that the angel whispering to you — softly telling you to use thoughtful consideration when opening your mouth, your mind and your heart — was not trying to control you like your precious devil was.

The intention of the good inside — the whispering angel — is to protect the mind from becoming evil’s bitch.

The little devil on our shoulder — the choices which do not resonate with highest good — seek to imprison us. But we have the power to choose.

The authentic strength of highest good will pop the devil’s rising balloons, and tell even the biggest evil to take his self-aggrandizing bullshit and go straight to hell.

I can only hope I am not alone in my convictions, outside the cage of “small mind.”

Photo Credit

“Devil and angel” Artist unknown