Perhaps figuring out what matters most matters most.[i]
Apparently 42% of Americans believe in the Devil. Or maybe they just need to blame someone else (projection) for their “bad” (unconscious) behavior and the Devil is convenient?
What I propose is that virtually 100% of Americans are the Devil. How can that be, you ask? Well, here’s how. We are “possessed” by a chosen and self-created identity–our false self–that is destructive, in fact suicidal in a lemming-like way. And we wonder why many of us are frantically pursuing distractions, drama and amusements?
When Satan offered Jesus the “three temptations” (plenty, pleasure and power) the parable was a metaphor about choices offered but refused. We have these same choices, the ongoing, continuous multitude of options throughout our life. We get to decide which choices we make. And of course our choices have consequences–either a life of fear and paranoia or a life filled with compassion.
Our story (worldview) determines our identity–our True self or false self. Our identity drives our behavior–life-enhancing or self-destructive. We all have a True-self identity within, the same as Jesus did.
Guidance from our True self is always available to us when we are face-to-face with the Devil’s self-destructive, seductive temptations. “But our primal selves are hard-wired by experience and hot emotion, which distorts and limits our view of things, sometimes magnifying threats and opportunities. There’s always a T-Rex lurking around the corner; we’re one leprechaun-stumble from a pot of gold. But what if we could be more dispassionate in regarding our own destiny? What if we could see through the ups and downs, the glories and tragedies–our own winning and losing streaks, really–to the underlying grid of chance and self-determination that guides all of life, including issues of love, health and money?”[ii]
What then? Well, of course then we would no longer need the excuse that “the devil made me do it.”
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Supplemental Reading: True Self and False Self, The ABC’s of Simple Reality, Vol 2
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[i] Chocano, Carina. “Attention Deficit.” The New York Times Magazine. October 1, 2017, p. 11.
[ii] Paterniti, Michael. “Totally Random.” The New York Times Book Review. July 12, 2020, p. 11.
