{"id":1335,"date":"2011-10-16T11:03:48","date_gmt":"2011-10-16T18:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegatheringcincinnati.org\/?p=1335"},"modified":"2011-10-16T11:03:48","modified_gmt":"2011-10-16T18:03:48","slug":"october-16-2011-scary-halloween-things-satans-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/2011\/10\/16\/october-16-2011-scary-halloween-things-satans-power\/","title":{"rendered":"October 16, 2011, "Scary Halloween Things: Satan's Power?""},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a9 Doug Slagle, Pastor at the Gathering, UCC, 10-16-11, All Rights Reserved\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

To listen to the message, click below:<\/p>\n\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t know if many of you stay up late on Saturdays to watch Saturday Night Live. \u00a0Since that is a work night for me, I don\u2019t watch it as often as I would like. \u00a0For me, it was a coming of age show that I regularly watched in my teens when John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Dan Ackroyd starred. \u00a0Over the years, it has produced some wonderful cultural and political satire.<\/p>\n

One particular episode which I remember from almost twenty years ago had Jon Lovitz play the devil. \u00a0The setting is a People\u2019s Court courtroom and Satan has been sued by a bubble headed, eighteen year old hairdresser. \u00a0He must defend himself in a lawsuit where he is accused of failing to fulfill a contract to make her a successful hair stylist in return for her immortal soul. \u00a0The devil protests that he did make her a success \u2013 he made her so skilled that after one styling, a person\u2019s hair would be perfect and remain that way forever. \u00a0Repeat business was not needed and her business failed. \u00a0Even with that evidence, Satan loses the trial and must return the stylist\u2019s soul.<\/p>\n

What was hilarious to me was that Jon Lovitz\u2019s Satan was an overweight \u201cschlub.\u201d \u00a0Dressed in way too tight red leotards and a ridiculous cape, this Satan was far more comical than scary. \u00a0The all powerful Prince of Darkness must defend himself \u2013 in of all places – a People\u2019s Court and then he loses to a valley girl! \u00a0He tries to intimidate the judge but is shouted down. \u00a0And, after the trial he is forcibly pulled away from the microphone as he comically, but pathetically, begs viewers to worship him.<\/p>\n

During this abbreviated October series on scary Halloween things, what I find fascinating about Satan is not whether most people believe in him or not, but the ridiculous and puffed up vanity he represents in our lives. \u00a0As many of you know, the Biblical story says Satan was once an angel who resided in heaven. \u00a0In that allegorical tale, Satan was a beautiful cherub whose heart became proud because of his splendor. \u00a0He sought to be equal with God, to have his own throne in heaven and rule as an equal to the Divine. \u00a0As Satan strutted around like some petty but arrogant dictator, God cast him out of heaven.
\nThe Garden of Eden story describes Satan as a snake and he is traditionally depicted in religious art as a slimy, sinister reptile. \u00a0But the Bible later describes the satanic serpent as an animal of great beauty, with skin that shone like diamonds and rubies. \u00a0Indeed, it is this image of Satan that rings most true according to the purposes of the myth. \u00a0How could a frightening snake seduce Eve? \u00a0It was Satan\u2019s shining beauty \u2013 and his pushy, arrogant attitude \u2013 that swayed Eve to disregard God\u2019s instructions. \u00a0Satan\u2019s beauty explains why he was banished from heaven in the myth story. \u00a0He became proud, full of himself and thus thought himself equal to the creator of the universe.<\/p>\n

This mix of Satan images \u2013 the beautiful serpent and that of an impotent fat guy in red leotards, seems appropriate! \u00a0The story of Satan as the author of evil still has power in our imaginations but that evil ultimately is weak, silly and foolish – pride is just like an arrogant but overweight devil thinking himself better than he is.<\/p>\n

Religious myth describes Satan as the father of pride. \u00a0And, for most people, arrogance and the worship of self is the foundation of all wrongdoing. \u00a0It is that aspect of the Satan myth that I find compelling \u2013 and appropriate for study. \u00a0What is it about pride that motivates human misdeeds? \u00a0Why is it often seen as the foundational sin \u2013 the scary Halloween thing – we must fight in ourselves and in our world? \u00a0Why is it that we put on a ridiculous costume of pride and puff ourselves up with vanity and self-importance?
\nYou have heard me say many times that I believe life is not about the self. \u00a0For us as individuals to have any meaning and any lasting legacy, we do not exist to simply suck up precious resources for personal well-being. \u00a0Life is about adding value to the world and creating those small echoes or ripples in time that spread out to touch countless people far into the future. \u00a0Whether or not there is an afterlife, I know for sure that we will live forever in the way we selflessly impact our families, friends, and world for the better. \u00a0Fighting pride \u2013 that ridiculous worship of the self \u2013 is therefore crucial to our own immortality.
\nReinhold Niehbuhr, the famed philosopher and theologian of the twentieth century, said that humanity is afflicted with a preoccupation of the self. \u00a0He wrote that people are overly concerned with the \u201cMe\u201d \u2013 its nuances, vagaries, intimate details and pleasures. \u00a0Where is the concern for the other \u2013 not just in grand gestures we perform \u2013 but in everyday living, in deeply listening to another, in small acts of kindness, in empathy for the concerns, needs and opinions of others? \u00a0Pride manifests itself in most people in often very petty ways. \u00a0Instead of working to promote great good in the universe, we dwell on the mundane and ordinary concerns of the self.
\nIn almost all world religions, pride is a primary vice. \u00a0It is a form of \u201cMe\u201d idolatry that denies reality in the self and in others. \u00a0In study after study, individuals are proven mostly incapable of seeing themselves as they truly are. \u00a0When asked, most people believe themselves to be good persons living in a world where everyone else is bad. \u00a0One survey found that 94 per cent of all college faculty members believe themselves to be superior to their colleagues. \u00a0Another study by the Harvard Business School found a correlation of near zero between how most employees self evaluate their work performance and the actual reality, as measured by many others. \u00a0Self evaluations are worthless, the study concluded, since most employees over-inflate their performance. \u00a0An additional study found that American educational efforts to boost student self-esteem through higher grades and excessive praise had the opposite affect in terms of increasing a love of learning. \u00a0Cultures that offer minimal praise to students produce graduates with far greater passion and ability to study.
\nWe are too in love with ourselves and it shows. \u00a0We are often \u00a0ridiculously self-important. \u00a0The small annoying behavior in another person is an affront to our personal need for comfort. \u00a0The opinions of others are diminished because we believe that only ourselves, and those who think and act like we do, are right. \u00a0When engaged in conversation, we often hear the words of another but make no effort to understand or empathize. \u00a0And too often, under the guise of sharing, we quickly switch conversations to stories about the \u201cMe\u201d, when our focus should remain on the other.<\/p>\n

Many churches are also cults of the self and its needs. \u00a0How many congregations indulge in satisfying their needs \u2013 building immense but comical structures seemingly to honor the divine but which are really playgrounds for the senses? \u00a0People in church want to be entertained and served instead of challenged and asked to help. \u00a0Money given is seen as purchasing a service instead of as a gift to help others.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Gathering is not perfect but I believe we at least try to make this place NOT about us. \u00a0Indeed, what we spend on ourselves is hopefully more about the other \u2013 how we can grow as individuals so that we can then help those in need. \u00a0Our focus will continue to be outward \u2013 to those seated next to us, to guests and visitors, to those in the community outside these doors. \u00a0But like all others, we too must watch out for pride in our midst.<\/p>\n

It is wonderful to think about all the money we have raised for homeless kids or the regular acts of outreach we perform. \u00a0Even in our charity, though, we can always do more. \u00a0Our desire to grow and expand must be rooted in that thinking \u2013 bigger will never be better if we are not using extra resources to further expand our purpose and our outreach. \u00a0I confess I needed to be reminded of that by one wise person in our congregation. \u00a0Even in our humility and our simple church location, we can fall victim to silly pride. \u00a0Let us not think ourselves morally superior to any other church or group. \u00a0We are just as broken and fallen and wonderfully lovable as any other.<\/p>\n

And all of that brings us back to the individual and to ourselves. \u00a0If pride, arrogance and an over indulgence of the self is the disease, what is the cause? \u00a0According to Saint Augustine and common Christian theology, pride is a phenomenon unique to humanity. \u00a0We are born as heirs of original sin \u2013 the Satan influenced disobedience by Adam and Eve. \u00a0But humanist psychology, beginning in the late nineteenth century, sees human misdeeds and pride as overcompensation for the chubby \u201cschlub\u201d in us all. \u00a0Indeed, some modern psychoanalysts see all forms of selfishness and arrogance as false fronts for an undervalued self. \u00a0The bully is really one who lacks self-confidence. \u00a0The over-overachiever and workaholic lack self-worth. \u00a0The narcissist lacks self-love. \u00a0People who are depressed, addicted or angry lack self-esteem. \u00a0Any human neurosis, this theory goes, is an overcompensation for the real problem of self-doubt. \u00a0In our pretensions to be greater than we are, we wind up looking utterly foolish.<\/p>\n

Fyodr Dostoyevsky, the famed Russian novelist, claimed that selfish humanity is not only often incapable of loving others, we are incapable of truly loving ourselves. \u00a0Dale Carnegie added, \u201cWhen dealing with people, we must remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. \u00a0We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bustling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.\u201d \u00a0When looking at many figures of history consumed with often evil pride, we are struck by how silly they were – the Emperor Napolean suffering from little man syndrome, Adolf Hitler pained by his inadequacies but goose stepping around with a funny mustache, the macho swagger of American cowboys many of whom were gay. \u00a0But how do we eliminate this worst of all human ailments \u2013 selfish pride? \u00a0We must aspire to live according to the spiritual value of humility.<\/p>\n

I find myself daily fighting that scary Halloween thing within me \u2013 that of wearing tight red leotards of devilish pride. \u00a0Why do I seem more concerned about myself and the little conveniences of life than I do for the needs of others? \u00a0Why am I so concerned about what others think of me and my actions? \u00a0Why do I feel such a strong need to be loved and accepted? \u00a0The most frightening thing for me is to feel unloved. \u00a0I often act and speak in order to win the favor of others instead of liking me as me and being at peace with that. \u00a0I find that I question my motives \u2013 am I loving and compassionate for the mere goodness of those actions, or do I really seek the favor of others to feed my silly ego?<\/p>\n

Even in my attempts to act and remain humble, I find myself feeling superior. \u00a0I tell myself, falsely, that others are more arrogant than me! \u00a0I fall into the same trap that I mentioned earlier \u2013 people humorously see themselves as better than the rest of the world. \u00a0Jesus said it best. \u00a0Instead of figuratively pointing out the speck in another person\u2019s eye, pull the log out of your own!<\/p>\n

And false humility has its own seduction. \u00a0Pride in one\u2019s legitimate skills, achievements and actions is good. \u00a0Jane Austen noted that one can be proud without being arrogant. \u00a0Appropriate pride relates to one\u2019s honest opinion of the self. \u00a0Vanity is focused on what we want others to think of us.<\/p>\n

A solution to this satanic but comical tendency within us is difficult to practice. \u00a0We must be ruthlessly honest with ourselves. \u00a0We must be willing to note the failures and weaknesses in us \u2013 the first of which is a tendency toward pride. \u00a0Just as important, however, we must be willing to confidently state the successes and abilities that we do have. \u00a0Friends who are willing to lovingly laugh at us are invaluable. \u00a0A true friend is one who loves us for our beauty AND our foolishness. \u00a0He or she is willing to tell us who we really are. \u00a0Are you courageous enough to ask for and accept such wisdom about yourself? \u00a0Am I? \u00a0Our goal must be to stand nakedly authentic in front of ourselves and others – as comical as that image might be! \u00a0Indeed, purging ourselves of pride involves stripping away the outer falsehoods we hide behind and allowing the true self to shine.<\/p>\n

Whatever the cause of pride, whether it be from our human nature or whether it comes from a lack of self-esteem, the outward actions of self focused thinking are really very funny. \u00a0But they have the power to hurt as well. \u00a0Whenever possible, we must stop and think before we act or speak. \u00a0Are you helping someone else\u2026.or filling your own petty needs? \u00a0Are you empathetic to the feelings of a family member or friend or are you daydreaming about yourself? \u00a0Are you really listening to another \u2013 hearing the hurt, pain or joy lying just beneath their words? Are you willing to honestly consider the opinions and differences of others – or do you strut around thinking only you are right? \u00a0How do we practice genuine humility \u2013 recognizing our shortcomings and our strengths?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just as we see with the humorous depiction of a less than scary Satan, the real devil within us is often quite ordinary and comical. We turn purple and shake our fist at someone who cuts us off in traffic. \u00a0We dismiss the opinions of others. \u00a0We act entitled, self-important, or childishly hurt instead of being generous, humble and forgiving. \u00a0We act contrary to what ALL of the better angels tell us. \u00a0But, they too inhabit our souls and they too yearn for power in our lives. \u00a0Those angels are the ones who sing with beauty, who champion our better instincts, who love unconditionally, serve selflessly, forgive without question, and who touch with their soft wings the lives of family, friend and stranger \u2013 long after we are gone. \u00a0Let\u2019s take off the silly devil costume of pride that we wear. \u00a0We are so much more beautiful – and humble – without it!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a9 Doug Slagle, Pastor at the Gathering, UCC, 10-16-11, All Rights Reserved To listen to the message, click below: \u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t know if many of you stay up late on Saturdays to watch Saturday Night Live. \u00a0Since that is a work night for me, I don\u2019t watch it as often as I would like. \u00a0For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}