Fear of the Occult

(Now, those of you who know me can look at the first word of that title and know what I’m about to say…)

A very dear friend of mine is wrestling mightily with the idea of sending her children to a Montessori School. Her interest and struggle is in no small part due to my own influence, as my children have all attended Montessori school during their 2^nd through 6^th years. In addition to the benefit they gain in ordering their own minds, I have found that the peace I gain from having these 2 or 3 hours apart from them far outweighs the effect of the influences they are exposed to. Nevertheless, I am very aware and respectful of her concerns, as they form the heart of why we homeschool our children.

Her biggest concern at the moment is the fact that Yoga is strongly emphasized in the classroom. I am aware of the amount of ink that has been spilled on the subject. I am aware of the specific concerns. And I don’t pretend to be the expert on the subject, nor do I consider myself to be even approaching infallibility. Nevertheless, I will dare to give my opinion on the subject.

Here are the main points that I see at play:

1) Our Lord and God is King over all the universe, but scripture tells us that Satan is in fact prince of this temporal world we live in.

2) A great deal of our culture is either in thrall to his deceptions, or at the very least in ignorance or indifference to them.

3) A large part of the danger that exists in these deceptions stems from that ignorance or indifference, as his devices often seem quite harmless or innocuous, but they plant the seeds of great evil that only becomes clear much later, after a great deal of damage has been done.

4) One of these devices—and indeed, a favorite of his—is FEAR.

5) He is not ‘equal-yet-opposite’ to God. With the very rare exception of demonic possession (in which case the possessed is not held responsible for his actions in the eyes of God), Satan’s power over us is more or less confined to hindrance, however energetic.

6) This hindrance is truly effective only if it succeeds in accomplishing one of these goals:

· Creating potential sin—that is, fostering mental beliefs and/or physical conditions that are particularly conducive to the commission of sin.

· Causing actual commission of sin.

· Causing us to sin by omission or neglect.

7) In Genesis, we read that when God created the world and the things in it, He called them GOOD. Evil can only exist where there is a will divergent from God’s will. Therefore an inanimate object or a particular action can only become “evil” through association with some sort of intent. For example, stabbing with a knife becomes an evil act when it is associated with the intent of hurting someone or something.

(OK, it’s not an all-encompassing treatise, but this is a blog. If you need a deeper analysis, go snuggle up with your copy of City of God instead.)

Where the water gets muddy is when we combine #7 with #3. There is real danger here, and there are obviously blatant examples of these occasions of sin that surround us daily. These ought to be scrupulously avoided to the extent possible; however, in order to avoid the danger of #4, we must also analyze our actions and weigh them in the balance. What benefit do we gain by becoming obsessive and thereby creating an atmosphere of fear, anger, isolation and resentment in our homes, which instead ought to be a safe and peaceful refuge?

For example, in our society, fathers (and sometimes mothers) spend all day working outside the home. This is not inherently evil; yet it often leads to strife in the home: there is the physical separation which lends itself to spiritual separation; there is the lack of a constantly present role model for children; there is the shifting of priorities away from those of home and family…the list goes on. And yet it remains a necessary evil. We suffer it, and if we are wise, we attempt to counteract it to the greatest extent possible.

It is good to be aware of the subtle tricks that Satan uses to divide and conquer—but we must also be aware that division is the first step in that victory!!!

When we allow him to create divisions among us, we are already weakened. For if we close our hearts, how can even He enter within? At the risk of sounding ecumenical, it is our duty to seek out those things that we have in common, rather than dwelling on the differences.

Remember 'salt and light'?

Part of following Christ’s commandments consists in plotting our course through life with courage, hope and good will toward our fellow men. Sequestration and distrust cannot achieve this. An army of crusaders is useless if they sit fallow at home.

We must engage in battle!

Not in the sense that we consider the “other” as an enemy to be fought, but in the sense that Christ placed himself in the midst of those others and led them by example, by abundant love, by excessive forgiveness. When we agree to fight for Him, will He not supply our every need in that battle? Look at the quote in my sideline: The battle is His, not ours! He asks that we go out to meet the challenges of our day, with the promise that He will be with us.

Do not fear to engage. Do not fear the “other”. Do not fear even those tactics that are meant to ensnare us, for if we consecrate ourselves to His service, we make Him our rock and our shield. Consider first and foremost that we have a great thing in common: we are all sinners.

What we should fear most is that we should become so convinced that we are right, that we become like the Pharisees—the one group toward whom Jesus spoke most harshly.

And now there remain these three: Faith, Hope and Love; and the greatest of these is Love. (1 Corinthians 13: 13)

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