I’ve always found this passage in Luke “The Healing of a Demon-possessed Man” to be hard to read. It’s hard for me to grasp the intensity of this man’s struggle and of course, the poor pigs, what did they do? Did they deserve that? I would like to think that this was just a dramatic illustration that didn’t really happen.
Whether you are on the side of “literalism” or view scriptures as “sacred stories”, we can’t deny that there are those who are wrought with demons and that we all at some level struggle with our own demons. For me, this scripture is about acknowledging that I do have demons. Acknowledging them not to make myself feel worse, but to keep them present so they don’t grow inside me to the same intensity as the man in this story.
To me, spirituality is growing as a person day-to-day. Getting to know yourself and accepting yourself where you are. The golden rule says “treat your neighbour as yourself”. Sometimes I think we need to turn that around and be as kind and forgiving to ourselves as we are to our neighbours. And, when we struggle with our demons we need to acknowledge that they are there and clothe ourselves with the “cloak of compassion”.
-Brook Ward