The Sabbatical is over so here we go. I'd like to start in a place I did not expect. Advent is the beginning of the Church Year - the coming of the Messiah of God - Jesus. A lead character that cannot be dismissed in this adventure is Satan. Thus, I will begin with Rene Girard's look at Satan. Girard notes: Satan is a reality - expressing a source of transcendence. Another transcendence would be God's Reign. He also notes that Satan is the personification of the principles of both order and disorder. I will stop there because Satan is so often the one we point to as the power that disrupts us or causes us to stumble - creating chaos - leading to war - nurturing bigotry and hatred - death. And yet, when Jesus calls the Passion "the hour of Satan" it is not an hour of disorder. Rather it is played out very well. The 'order' of the day stays place. Girard places a special emphasis on what he calls mimesis or - desire that imitates - an unconscious imitation of others. What stays in place as the order of Satan is this kind of "wanting to be something." So the something plays itself out in many ways. The Order may be the order brought about by war. That is, they have something or they are something other than us and we desire what that appears to be. So - when Satan is of order it is because Satan embodies the self-organizing system that keeps mimesis (this imitating desire) within the bounds that will perpetuate the system. The order of the world is set up to divide - keep people separate - create fear, etc. This order is really disorder because it is based on a lie that is "from the foundation of the world" and stays in place through victimage and scapegoating. This is the world where Satan is the Prince. Connection: This is the world into which Jesus as the Christ of God is born. Satan rules and the 'orderly' way of Satan will dog Jesus throughout his life. Again and again, Satan will attempt to pull Jesus aside and win him into the camp of this destructive and ever-present domain that is ruled by the 'Father of lies.' Jesus will resist and live in a way that is contrary to this 'devilish' way to live. Jesus will live within the realm of love - the power of life that is defined by a 'love that will not let anyone go' - not them - not those - not the ones we want to be dead and gone. Jesus will be the life that exposes the lie of the order of Satan. As you walk with us, O God, continue to keep our hearts open to your love that exposes the bonds of evil that attempt to keep us just as we are - locked within their power. Amen. |
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