What If I’m Both Angel and Demon?
Tuesday, July 26th, 2022
He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. ~ Mt 13:37-38
In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains a parable about weeds and darnels mentioned in earlier verses.
I want to focus more on the concept of the children of the evil one, and the children of the Kingdom. It’s easy to think this parable means that inherently evil or good people.
I don’t think of it that way. Yes, there are people that exhibit evil behaviors, but I don’t necessarily believe they came to this world being evil.
What I think more about is what if I am the soil? What if I’m the one that is represented in the story as the soil that’s receiving positive messages and negative messages?
What if I’m the one discerning and having the good and the evil growing together inside of me?
In this instance, I’m the one that must do the discernment…I am the one that has to do the exploration and identify the ideas aligned with God’s will and which ones are not.
A second perspective I want to share is what if I play the role of the evil one or the son of man in someone else’s life?
- What if my actions become a positive example or a negative example to someone else?
- What if, what I say to someone is can produce a fruit that is useful, productive, and creative; or a fruit that is destructive and constricting to someone else?
It’s fascinating how a different world opens when I choose to insert myself into the scene instead of reading as a distant observer. Jesus could have been talking about heaven, hell, angels, and demons but the journey is so much more engaging when I position myself in the different roles of the story.
I’m aware that I play both a positive and a negative role. Both perspectives above are nothing more than a way to figure out what do I need to do, or what is the path I must follow to be a good example, to be creative, and to be constructive in someone else’s life.
In peace,
~Juan
