When I lived in Phoenix there was a story in the news about a man who had killed his young daughter. She was, I believe, about 2 years old. The news showed pictures of her. She looked like a little angel.
The motive was either that the man didn’t want to pay child support, or perhaps he wanted but was denied custody. Getting the motive right really isn’t important, of course, since what motive would we accept for what happened?
The news reported that the man took his daughter out into the desert to kill her. He doused her in gasoline, and then set her on fire. Her screams and flailing about upset him, so he left for awhile. When he returned, she was still alive, but dying. He stayed, watching her die, until he was sure she was gone.
We know that he did it. They taped him telling this story and showed it on TV.
So then, how do we not hate him? Worse yet, how do we obey our command to love him?
When I first heard about this story I found myself filled with hate for the man. Who wouldn’t? But then I saw the video of him telling the story. A chill went through me. Somehow, watching him tell what happened, it dawned on me that evil does exist in this world. And the tales of demons possessing people was true. Here it was in front of me.
Somehow, in his voice and demeanor, I could tell he wasn’t in charge of himself any more. He told the story in a soft quiet voice. They had to use subtitles so we could get everything he said. He told the story flat out, no remorse, no emotion, no guile. He seemed miles away. There is no way a human could do what he did and feel nothing.
What if the man were demon possessed? But what if part of him was still there? What if some small part of his humanity remained? Try, for just a minute, many just a second, and imagine it were you. Some evil possesses you. You lose control of your body. And you do that to your little girl. Horror. What you are feeling is what he most surely felt at some level – only a thousand times more. He wasn’t just imaging it for a second. He lived it.
Where is the greatest tragedy in this story? Who should your heart go out to? Who should you be praying for, sincerely, truly, honestly praying for?
Do you believe there is a battle being waged between good and evil? Do you believe in demons? Are any of us truly and fully safe?
I imagine Christ looking deeply into the eyes of someone like this man. Christ looks deep into their soul, finding the humanity still there, and tells them that he loves them. They probably don’t believe it. How could anyone love me now? So he says it again. And again, and again, and again. He does this until the demon’s can’t stand it anymore. They leave. And then Christ does something truly miraculous. The evil that was done is forgotten.
This probably isn’t the only way for us to find love for those who do evil. But it works for me.
First published on MySpace along time ago
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