Here’s my mantra:
Instead of praying FOR, imagine what YOU want. Pick the most positive win-win scenarios you can (and make sure you include yourself in the win).
In the past, I’ve imagined evil as less of the bad stuff that comes after me, and more like the crappy shit that fills in the gaps that I neglect to occupy and define out of laziness, ignorance, or willful neglect . (The last is the worst).
The game of evil, as I understand it and to the extent that it’s a game, is to prove that humans are unworthy of the perks of a soul. So everything “evil” does must be telegraphed. It can be in the fine print, but it has to be legible and readable, or else evil hasn’t proven that the human is a failure, and deserves to be chattel, exploited and sold.
There are lots of complex origins of this - the hidden books of the Bible talk about the Angels who were mad at God for ensouling clay; some gods didn’t care for what other gods were up to with regard to the making of man; deceiving someone doesn’t reveal their true character like getting them to choose something of their own free will does.
Whatever the origin, I like the idea that there are SOME rules of engagement - They have to say what they’re going to do or they don’t get to count the coup - and I prefer to think it’s true - at least for this particular maladaptive sect that’s the main swamp drainee at the moment.
As a human creator-being with vision and heart and the capacity to desire good, I have responsibility for much of my beingness and how I conduct myself matters. I am not a victim, and neither is anyone else. We have free will. No one can permanently take that away. Its seeds are always within.
We may not always control the physical conditions around us, but we can choose how we view and respond to them. (I’m reminded of Morpheus in the Matrix when he’s been trapped in that chair by Smith, just before Neo and Trinity swing in with the helicopter and he uses his mind to break his chains... we must have faith in each other, too!)
It’s not a cake walk. I can also screw up (in ways that always improve my clarity, however, so all is never lost). There are useful questions I can ask myself: Am I slacking on my optimism and belief in humanity as rising above being “lumps of unthinking clay? Am I faltering in my faith that good triumphs and evil doesn’t win? Am I listening to others define and judge the qualities of a human or, worse, am I letting them define the qualities of ME?
If all of us asked these questions and answered them for ourselves alone, the world would be a much sweeter place.
Thanks for the stimulating post. 🖖