October 30, 2019

Anne Lamott’s great line, “My mind is like a bad neighborhood that I try not to go into alone”applies to all kinds of needling, unhelpful, and deceptive thoughts. The internal self-condemner rolls up his or her sleeves on one street and buys up all the condos. The self-justifier has claimed a different block. The quick to criticize and judge other people section of the neighborhood is formidable, and is always building new houses. Then there is always the section you want to keep hidden away from anybody else’s scrutiny; the windows there are all boarded up. 

Flannery O’Connor described the subject of her fiction as “the action of grace in territory held largely by the devil.”(Halloween is tomorrow, after all!) You don’t want to go alone into your mind because we are subject to the one Jesus calls “the father of lies.”Describing the devil, Jesus says, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

Thankfully, you do not go into the neighborhood of your own mind alone. Jesus Christ, your Savior and Defender, is there with you. And He is mighty to save.

“Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” (First Sunday in Lent – BCP p. 218)