Demons and Saints

While I am open to believing phenomena arising out of both realms--heaven and hell, I don't dwell on such things and certainly do not open myself up to the influences from the underworld. I gave up dabbling (briefly) with a Ouija board long ago, in high school, and don't seek out books or movies that deal with such subjects, that is, those that are associated directly with demons and devils.

Many movies, of course, contain themes of evil vs. good, and evil is certainly of the devil.

The Darkest Hour (which one best actor at the Oscar's last night) portrayed Winston Churchill at the time in history when he was having to make decisions about confronting Hitler, who remains our favorite modern personification of evil. The 1517 to Paris movie memorialized the story of three brave young heroes who subdued an evil Muslim terrorist, saving a train full of people. The only other movie I have seen in a theater in the last few months was Selma, a movie from 2014 which portrays the evils of racism in our country's history.

But yesterday, on a sunny Sunday morning when my only goal for the day was just getting up early enough to shower, blow-dry and curl my hair, and be dressed and ready for a choir rehearsal by 8:15 AM in order to practice an inspirational version of "How Great Thou Art," I was subjected to a sermon about Jesus, as recorded in the gospel of Matthew, casting out demons from a tormented soul and sending them into a herd of pigs ... quite a dramatic story!

When I toured Israel years ago I saw the peaceful grassy hill (knoll?) where this miraculous event purportedly occurred.

It is still hard to believe the story.

I have a certain fondness for pigs, as they helped to put food on our table literally (well, sort of) and figuratively back in the day. I assisted my father with the birthing (farrowing) process for years. I even had a pet pig one summer named "Skippy" whom I abandoned in the fall, shedding no tears on the day he went off to market along with all the other grown up hogs ... off to a graphic slaughter, yes, but providing bacon and chops for many other tables.

So, especially for me, the extraordinary phenomenon of 2,000 devil-possessed pigs streaming and screaming down the hill to their death in the sea paints a very graphic image! And a complete waste of bacon!

In total contrast, part of the worship service included remembering the Reverend Billy Graham, who passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 99. We sang three verses of "Just As I Am" with and without accompaniment, with solemn familiarity. And the choir performed that rousing version of "How Great Thou Art" which I will always associate with George Beverly Shea of the Crusade.

Billy Graham was for me the best representation I know of a saint on earth. Rev. Graham was a humble man who embraced his own sinfulness and need for grace, but never debased himself with even a hint of scandal.

Already reminded of demon possession from the morning sermon, we book-ended the day with a Sunday night movie--The Exorcism of Emily Rose. It is not a totally terrifying movie, but included a frightening portrayal of what demon possession might look like, based on a true story.

If I were in charge of the world, there would be more Billy Grahams and fewer Hitlers.

But so it is--good and evil evident in the world and all around us ... until that day when all the saints gather in heaven beside the "glassy sea." And perhaps we will hear from Billy Graham and George Beverly Shea, together once again.

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Billy Graham would have been 100 years old in November, a few days before Grandpa VR's birth date. Grandma VR would have been a 100 about two weeks before that. Graham came to national prominence with a crusade in L.A. the year I was born ... and I am old!

Three long-lived servants of God born in 1918 are now gone, all very ready to have been moved on up ... to sainthood in the skies! (♫movin' on up ... to a deluxe apartment (mansion?) in the skies♫)

Grandma VR was once in close proximity to Rev. Graham. She claimed to have sensed a "presence" around him (like a holy aura or something).

Somehow I don't find that hard to believe.