What's With the Horns?

What’s With the Horns?

It began well over fifteen years ago, probably around 1993 when the Irish rock band U2 was on their Zoo T.V. Tour. During this tour, the lead singer Bono invented some personalities for the stage.

The first was The Fly Guy, a black leather clad pop star with huge wrap around bug-eyed sunglasses. There was also the Mirrorball Man (an evangelical-esque performer) and of course the infamous Mr. MacPhisto. Mr. Macphisto is described by Bono as the ageing rock star (perhaps the Fly Guy at the end of his career), the filthy rich, fat-Elvis, Las Vegas entertainer long past his prime. Macphisto was created to be a parody of the devil, after Mephistopheles of the Faust legend.


I was in my early twenties at the time when my good friend Matt was bursting with excitement to give me a birthday present. To my everlasting delight I opened a T-Shirt he had made, hand drawn. A caricature of me. Back then I had a full beard and spiked-hair. When I wore my contacts, I was always seen wearing round-rimmed sunglasses, sometimes purple, sometimes black. And knowing my love for the Punk band The Ramones, their name also made it onto the t-shirt’s t-shirt. The horns reflected Bono’s Macphisto. I was christened Macphisto (no doubt a play on words of my last name - Mac Donald).



During the song “The Fly” on this tour, the audience was bombarded by images and phrases that flashed across dozens and dozens of video screens. Most notably:

and most fitting:

“Mock the Devil and he will run.”

I am sure that part of the reason this caricature has horns is that I do have an impish sense of humour and have a bit of the devil inside me as well. But at the end of the day it should be taken as a way to mock the devil.

In the last year or so the picture has evolved once I joined Facebook (or as my brother-in-law likes to call it, FaceCult). Now there is a whole line of images with different hats, backgrounds and the like. I still have the original T-shirt, it is a bit faded and the collar is beginning to wear thin. A suitable symbol just like the washed up version of Bono’s MacPhisto, don’t you think?

Arms Wide Open

Arms Wide Open

Healing. A perfectly natural occurrence in life. Cut your finger and the body responds and over time the cut disappears. Clearly this is not a conscious decision. It occurs with or without our interference and sometimes in spite of it. Yet there are some illnesses that the body cannot seem to overcome. The pain becomes so intense that it becomes your world. It becomes you.

A wise man once said: “You don’t pray for rain. You pray rain.” Essentially what this means is that if you are lacking rain, you don’t pray for it because you are focusing on the lack, on what you don‘t have. By ‘praying rain’ you are focusing on something that already exists.

So by the same token “you don’t pray for healing. You pray health.” By seeking healing, does this not suggest that there is something wrong to begin with, empowering the idea of sickness even more?

I have never healed a person, nor has anyone healed me (those who can’t do, teach!). I have never seen a person healed myself. The immediate and obvious question here is: are physical miracles even possible? We all have heard those rare stories of people being suddenly cured of cancer, and yet they received no treatment. Even their doctors are mystified. Are these simply anomalies? Properties of mere chance? Or is it conceivable that the possibility does exist?

But if does exist, why don’t we see it more consistently? Ah. Now that is a question.

(Of course the philosopher in me wonders: should we even try to be healed? What of the teachings and wisdom that comes from suffering? All good questions, to be saved for another time.)

Obviously pain is very real in the moment. It is nigh impossible to argue against its existence. How people deal with chronic pain I can’t even begin to imagine the difficulty, but at the very least I can draw inspiration from them. Pain is never more real than when we are in the midst of it.

But have you ever considered the amount of fear that lies hidden beneath this idea of healing? I am always interested in the biblical stories of healing. Let us forget the whole debate as to whether this really happened or not, let us ignore the fact that perhaps these stories are messages about something else entirely. All of the miracles required the active participation from the one who was sick.

The blind man is told to go wash the mud from his eyes. The paralyzed man is told to pick up his stretcher and walk away. The woman who touches Jesus’ garment is told that it is her faith that has healed her. These are active participants.

I would suggest that Jesus did not heal anyone. Instead, those who were healed accepted the healing for themselves. And clearly being able to “heal” others, means Jesus understood and accepted it for himself.

And what better images of acceptance are there than babies asleep in their crib, arms wide open. Or images of Jesus blessing people with his arms outstretched? Even crucified his arms are wide open.



And what do these images of open arms suggest? Acceptance. The image of Jesus on the cross is a symbol of his own acceptance - of the power that is his (and ours), as well as acceptance of his own fate.



How many adults sleep this way? As children? Completely open, without a fear in the world? Is this even a realistic possibility for adults? Clearly children are blissfully unaware as they lack the experience of adulthood. They simply don’t know any better. And yet all are born into this state. It existed at one time. Can it exist again? Or did it ever really leave?

Why would a person be afraid of healing? What could a person in pain possibly be afraid of? Surely they would want the healing? They would be begging for it.

Healing, like Grace is the most fearful thing in the world. (Wait, what was that? Who is afraid of Grace? The answer is everyone.)

Grace is defined as “undeserved kindness”. Why does a person feel guilty for so long? Because they cannot forgive themselves. Because they falsely believe they deserve what they get. In my experience these feelings and fears are rarely conscious decisions, but deeply rooted, invasive vines. Here is a description of what vines do (thanks Wikipedia!): “A vine may use exposures, other plants, or other supports for growth rather than investing energy in a lot of supportive tissue.”

To accept Grace into one’s life, means accepting THAT YOU ARE WORTHY, despite your experiences. Despite your doubts. Who can stand in front of the mirror and look themselves in the eye and declare: “I AM WORTHY?”

This is why Grace and healing are so fearful. And what makes things even harder, is that in order to accept that you are worthy, means you have to accept that other people are worthy. And therein lies the problem. Worthiness is incapable of judgement. All are worthy or none. There is no middle ground. Worthiness is not available to certain groups, it is available to all. So if you are to admit that you are worthy, it also requires you to admit that your neighbour is worthy. And your enemy is worthy. That the guy who cut you off in morning traffic is also worthy. And these are just small examples, but if you continue through this logic you must also consider the extreme examples too. The pedophile, the rapist, the dictator, the serial killer, the abuser, the terrorist. They all must be worthy, or no one is worthy.

If you cannot accept Grace for yourself, what hope is there in accepting it in others?

For how you judge yourself, so do you judge the world.

I am amazed at how difficult most people have accepting compliments. It embarrasses them, or they try to take the high road and suggest they don’t want their ego to get a hold of it. Others will outright reject a compliment or belittle themselves and even deflect them. But why?

It is because of this inability to accept for ourselves. And let me make this absolutely clear. The writer of this post is no different.

So the next time someone gives you compliment, or a pat on the back, don’t shrug it off. Accept it (especially if you think its not true!). For what person at Christmas rejects a present? And while we are busy rejecting these tiny little gifts, do we consider what it does to the giver? What message are we sending? This is the message we send with every rejection: I do not accept this for me, because I do not accept it in you.

We talk about how hard life is, and murder thoughts of beauty at the same time.

If the world suddenly gave birth to a great healer (a legitimate one mind you) in your present state of mind…do you think you could be healed? Could you accept it for yourself? Without feeling guilty (“oh, there are so many people more deserving than I”)? There is no one more deserving than you! This is not the ego talking! This is the Spirit. And how can one know this is not the ego (or the devil if you will)? Again, very simple. The ego is self-serving. To accept it for yourself - is to accept it for all. Acceptance benefits all, because it is available to all. But people don’t like that idea at all. They don’t want it available to all, only a select few that they choose. The ego (or the mind/body) want the pain, needs the pain to prove to itself that it exists. To prove to the world that it exists and that its pain is exceedingly worse than any other. It is the ego that thinks: what if the sickness comes back again? I don’t want to get my hopes up, only for them to be crushed again.

When you are wrapped in the cloak of pain, the crown of thorns digging into your flesh, what voice begs for healing? The spirit? Or the Mind/Body? It seems to me that in this moment this would not be the best time to practice acceptance. For really at this point wouldn’t it be completely self-serving? And yet it is also the best time to practice it for this would be the ultimate test. Can you, in the moment, accept it for all? Not because you are in pain, but because the world is?

Acceptance means you have changed your programming, you have become like a child again ("Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all"). Acceptance means you have become a living example for others.

When we see loved ones in pain, how easy and quick we are to wish for their suffering to end. How quick to prayer. Why is it so hard to accept it for ourselves?

The gifts we offer others are the gifts we cannot accept for ourselves.

A friend of mine brought up an interesting idea concerning the Christian practice of washing another follower's feet. She had this to say: “how many of us simply are not prepared to allow ourselves that crucible even for a moment?” I can honestly say, there is no way in hell I could allow that for me. But after writing this post (and after profusely apologizing for not accepting a bow or a compliment) I am certainly going to work toward that acceptance.

Ah, and there is that philosopher’s voice in my head again. “Work toward acceptance? Does this not suggest that you are already lacking? Was not the whole point of this little exercise about recognizing there is no lack and never has been, but acceptance has always existed? Do not work toward acceptance! Accept!”

I guess in order for me to accept for myself I will have to accept it for that damn voice in my head (that never silent Taskmaster). Sheesh!

The Power of Myth

The Power of Myth is a book and six part television documentary originally broadcast on PBS in 1988 as Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth. The documentary comprises six one-hour conversations between mythologist Joseph Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers. Most of it is filmed at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in California.

This documentary is full of wisdom, knowledge, truth (but not as religion knows truth).

Here are some quotes from the film:

“You have to have a feeling for where you are. You’ve got only one life to live and you don’t have to live it for six people. Pay attention to it.”

“Go where your body and soul want to go. When you have the feeling stay with it, and don’t let anyone throw you off.”

“If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you’re going to have a schizophrenic crackup. The person has put themselves off center. They have aligned themselves with a programmatic life and it’s not the one the body is interested in at all.”

“The world is full of people who have stopped listening to themselves.”


“When people find out what it is that’s ticking in them, they get straightened out.”

“Follow your bliss. Find where it is and don’t be afraid to follow it.”


“The influence of a vital person vitalizes.”

“We are the consciousness of the earth. We are the eyes of the earth. The voice of the earth.”

“This is it. If you don’t get it here, you won’t get it anywhere.”

“Follow your bliss.”

“It’s not the destination, but the journey.”

Watch the documentary on line:

PART I - The Hero's Adventure
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/insane-films-joseph-campbell-and-the-power-of-myth-part-1-of-6-the-hero-s-adventure/10580775

PART II - The Message of the Myth
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/insane-films-joseph-campbell-and-the-power-of-myth-part-2-of-6-the-message-of-the-myth/10580774

PART III - The First Storytellers
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/insane-films-joseph-campbell-and-the-power-of-myth-part-3-of-6-the-first-storytellers/14703713

PART IV - Sacrifice and Bliss
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/insane-films-the-power-of-myth-part-4-of-6-sacrafice-and-bliss/14703706

PART V - Love and the Goddess
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/insane-films-joseph-campbell-and-the-power-of-myth-part-5-of-6-love-and-the-goddess/14703699

PART VI - The Masks of Eternity
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/insane-films-the-power-of-myth-part-6-of-6-the-masks-of-eternity/14703674

What is Trust?

What is Trust?


If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same.

—Rudyard Kipling

There has been a lot of talk lately about not being able to trust. We all have our reasons (and they are all good ones). Often times the advice given is that you simply have to trust again. Although that is true, it does not point to the direction in which to do this. It is missing the HOW.

How does one learn to trust again? That indeed is a great question. First we must look at what trust is. I think we all have the same general idea of what is trust – it is a perception of honesty, competence and similar values. It is reliance on another. The person you are trusting must fulfill your ethical ideas. And the very first people we learn to trust are our parents. And if we perceive that they failed us in anyway, we become stuck in a pattern of mistrust that is very hard to break.

Now consider this. You can’t trust anyone.

To some this may be a shock for it may come across as deeply cynical. To others they roll their eyes and say ‘No kidding. Brilliant. Did you come up with that all on your own?’ So let’s look at that statement, but not in any cynical way – I have no desire to fuel the negativity surrounding trust or to be pessimistic.

Even the most trustworthy person on the planet will have a bad day. And in a particular moment that person can easily snap at you and say or do something that causes you to distrust them. Depending on the person you may still trust them, and forgive them, but still they have betrayed your trust according to our definition. Others we clearly know we can’t trust (certain government officials, certain lawyers and certain co-workers). In the end what it comes down to is that at some point at some time, someone will betray your trust because trust is a very personal idea. Your own idea and it will be broken.

Some will say you must trust, or put your faith in God. But this does not work for everyone, because there are many people out there who think God is the one who has betrayed their trust. And if this does work for you, don’t mess with it. Keep trusting in God.

Now that I’ve sent everyone into depressing despair, consider this:


The only person you can trust is yourself.

In any given situation, at any given time, you are the common thread. You are the only constant. You are the only one you can trust. And the beauty of this is that it gets everyone else off the hook. You no longer need to judge them for not acting accordingly. You no longer need to throw stones at them for what you perceive as betrayal. In any given situation, you can trust yourself to deal with the situation. You can trust yourself to know what to say, or what not to say. You can trust yourself to not take things personally. By trusting yourself this allows people to be who they are without judgment or even preconceived notions on how you think they should act. It suggests an understanding that their betrayal, their selfishness is their issue. Not yours.

Understand that people will act in ways that you will call selfish, or rude, or a multitude of other ways. The key, the trick, here is to understand that you can trust yourself that you will be okay. No matter what. Obviously you too will betray your own trust. This is idea of trust, trust in yourself and not others, is a lifelong work in progress.

And the only way to trust yourself is to practice it. Remove your expectations of others and ALLOW yourself to trust YOU. In the face of greatest danger, in the face of greatest fear – trust yourself.

Here is a great definition of Trust I found:

To allow without fear.

I would like to leave you with the lyrics to a song by Blue Rodeo, aptly titled ‘Trust Yourself’

someday soon
and I don't know when
your little world
will come crashing in
don't think twice
I'll be around
turn your back
someone's gonna let you down
you know that it's true
nobody led you on
they left that to you
now you'll be alone
when the sun comes up
with your tattered little dreams
and a broken cup
then you'll have to
trust yourself
and don't believe in anymore lies

you waste your time
think too much
really make a mess
of the things you touch
poor little bird
with a broken wing
better look around now
you know your losing everything
it's just a game
thought you had it all lined up
but somehow that's changed
now you'll have to run
and not get caught
and you'll have to hide
if you like it or not
then you'll have to
trust yourself
and don't believe in anymore lies

someday soon
and it won't be long
you'll ring the bell
but they'll all be gone
they took your jewels
and your statues too
left you with a pile of things
you never learned how to use
well here it comes again
you showed us where it all began
well here's where it ends
and you'll be alone
when the sun comes up
tattered little dreams
and a broken cup
then you'll have to trust yourself
and don't believe in anymore
trust yourself
and don't believe in anymore
trust yourself
and don't believe in anymore lies.

Standing Before the Gate

I wrote this piece of poetry in response to the Christian view of the rapture where the good souls get into heaven and the bad souls are condemned to hell for all eternity. To my mind, it seems that if heaven is meant to be perfect nothing can be missing from it. Not you, not me, not even your "enemies".

Standing Before the Gate


I stood before the Eternal Gate
wondering about my uncertain fate.
Not a soul to be found, except this one,
sitting alone and shining like the sun.

So I asked this hopeful mentor:
“please tell me, why you do not enter?
You do not seem afraid of being at rest,
looking as though you have passed every test.”

“The truth is this,” he said with a tear
“while the world is full of guilt and fear
all of these things I shall not abide
until the very last soul rests inside.”

“For how can I truly be at peace
and expect to join the amazing feast
with so many who remain behind
harbouring feelings of every kind?”

So I said, “I would sit and wait if I might.”
And he smiled and there I saw a strange sight -
I recognized his face as my very own
And before me was another soul alone.

- June 10, 2004

And I think the true inspiration behind this poem came from Kahlil Gibran's poem titled: Knocking at the Gate. Gibran, the little Lebanese poet really understood the message of compassion and forgiveness.

Original Sin

ORIGINAL SIN

It is said that we are all born into original sin because of the Fall of Adam and Eve. It is because of this incident that we are all sinners and subsequently require a Savior. Not just any Savior, but Jesus
Christ. No other will do. No substitutions, exchanges or refunds. Void where prohibited, not available in all areas, all sales are final and some restrictions apply (well not some, but endless restrictions).

Even as a child I thought how utterly and completely hopeless this was. How stupid and sad. That is, if the story of Genesis is to be taken literally.

Eden is described as a place where all needs are met. Not even the lion needs to hunt for food. This suggests to me that Eden is in fact the realm of the spirit or the soul. A soul does not need food or shelter. The soul can’t possibly require any physical needs. One might say that this heaven is perfection. A world without lack or desire.

Adam and Eve are banished from Eden by eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. The Tree of Free Will might be more accurate a title. Being banished is no more than the soul taking bodily form. With a body, we now have needs and desires. Having a body suddenly requires self-preservation (which is the purpose of pain). And what better way is this represented then by our own Ego? Being born into original sin is completely natural. It is being born into physical form. A physical form that requires an ego to survive. It is not a punishment, nor a banishment, merely a separation of pure soul (energy) into physical form.

One must realize that the ego is not evil, but necessary. The trick is to not be a slave to the ego, nor a slave to the spirit. The two must be balanced in order to achieve Eden (or perfection, without desire, balance). Is it not said that the first rule of Heaven is Order? It has also been said that “a house divided cannot stand.”

Living a completely ego-centered life would be one of excess and complete self-gratification. On the other side, living a completely spiritual life would be relatively short as you would starve to death. A balance or union is required of both. The body is the tool, the physical expression of the soul. After all what is inspiration without a pen? And what is a pen, without inspiration?

Kahlil Gibran says it this way:

“Though I travel with the light, I am not the light
and though I am a lute fastened with strings, I am not the lute player.”

Once Adam and Eve were banished (born?) Eden was closed and protected by a flaming sword. I find it very interesting that Jesus is supposed to return brandishing a flaming sword. In mythology, the sword is used to vanquish the dragon which symbolizes the ego. That is to say, the dragon desires the very things that it has no use for. The very things that don’t bring happiness. For example, dragons are depicted as stealing away virgins, and hoarding mountains of gold. It has no use for either of these things, yet its desires always get the better of it. This is what keeps us from “heaven” or from bliss, being a slave to our body. The only way to enter back in, is to cut our ego down, by shedding the very things that keep us trapped.

And what caused the original separation? Who knows for certain. But I can say this. The memory of eating steak simply does not compare to the actual experience of eating steak So perhaps, the snake is the true hero of the Genesis story, the one who showed us this great gift of free will and the ability to experience that steak again.

Sympathy For The Ego

Sympathy for the Ego

Paul Shade is a conservative, fictitious host of a Christian talk-radio show. Lucas Campbell is a fictitious spiritual guru.

Announcer: You’ve heard of the greatest psychic of our time. Now meet the greatest skeptic of our time: Paul Shade.

Paul Shade: Hello everybody and welcome to the program. Today I’m talking with Lucas Campbell, author of the book ‘Part-Time Sinner’ and ‘The Rules of Hell’. His latest book is titled ‘Sympathy for the Ego’. Mr. Campbell, welcome to our show.

Lucas Campbell: Thank you for having me, Paul.

Shade: Now for those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Campbell’s work, he describes himself as a Spiritual Being, rather than a Christian, although he was born and raised a Catholic. Much of his work deals with philosophy and can be at times extremely controversial. Now Mr. Campbell, in your latest book it says that you don’t believe in the devil.”

Campbell: That’s correct, I don’t.

Shade: Then it seems to me that’s just another victory for Satan.

Campbell: Yes, that’s a common belief that the devil’s greatest victory and strength is in this idea that no one believe in him anymore.

Shade: And that’s true. That’s why there’s so much sin in the world, because if you don’t believe that he exists, then you can’t stop him, you’re powerless against him. It may not be so much as people don’t believe he exists, rather that people have become complacent in the face of evil.

Campbell: Well, regardless if you believe in the existence of the devil, or Satan, evil does exist, but in illusionary form. And evil should and can be dealt with. If believing in a malevolent form, unseen and endowed with supernatural powers, gives you something to go up against, I do not wish to change that belief. I am simply offering a different way to view the debate, as well as a different, effective way to approach it.

Shade: What does ‘evil exists in illusionary form’ mean? I wouldn’t call Adolph Hitler an illusion.

Campbell: No, nor would I. What it means is this: it is the Christian belief as told in Genesis that God is Good. God is perfect. Now if God is perfect, then he cannot be imperfect. He simply can’t be both. Either he is perfect or he is imperfect. And since God made all of creation, including us, then it stands to reason that we and everything around us is perfect too. Therefore, anything we call ‘evil’ or ‘sinful’ can only be a perception. Perception is not real it is an illusion.


Shade: Wait a minute. You’re saying that Adolph Hitler didn’t do anything wrong? That he’s perfect? Killing millions of people is just our perception? So, should we let tyrants be tyrants and not do anything about them because God is perfect and God made them? That’s ridiculous.

Campbell: Actually, I’m saying that I cannot judge Hitler for what he did do – and he did do those terrible, terrible things. His judgement is reserved for God and God only. We cannot judge on partial evidence – because we weren’t there. God has all the facts because he was there and is everywhere. What I’m saying is that Hitler did those atrocious things because of his perception of the world; a world seen through fear. And that fear is not real – it is something entirely in the mind, an illusion. It was an illusion that caused him to act a certain way, to think that certain races had to be eradicated to purify humanity. If you ask me that was the greatest illusion. Had the illusion been dispelled, or the darkness of fear had been illuminated, our history would have changed dramatically. If his perception had been changed, so too would the illusions and everything that did happen, wouldn’t have.

Shade: I agree with you when you say that God created everything, and it that’s true, then didn’t he also create the illusion? The things you sat that aren’t real? Seemingly that would make God imperfect.

Campbell: Look at it this way. Have you ever driven on the highway and on the roadway in front of you looks like water gathered across the road? The more you drive the further the ‘water’ gets. You can never catch up to it. It looks like water and it looks like its always moving, but in fact there is no water. Just an illusion that the sun and clouds and the blacktop are making. So in a way, God did make this illusion, but he can’t be held responsible for how we perceive things.

Shade: Okay, so back to the devil…

Campbell: Yes, if God is perfect, how can there possible be a devil? To my way of thinking, by putting your belief in a supernatural power that makes you do things that go against your very nature, renders you powerless, helpless. How do you possibly fight something like this and expect to win?

Shade: By proclaiming Jesus Christ as your Saviour. Jesus will give you the power to fight the devil. Through prayer, through scripture. That’s how.

Campbell: Okay, I won’t argue that. Now take for instance a person who has rejected God, rejected Jesus. Does Jesus have any influence in this person’s life?

Shade: Sure he does. He just doesn’t know it.

Campbell: But if he continues to reject Jesus, continues to sin, is Jesus then having an effect on this person’s life?

Shade: Not if he rejects Jesus, no. That person doesn’t allow Jesus to help. That’s not to say that Jesus can’t step in and perform a miracle. I guess at this point it becomes unlikely.

Campbell: Then this person would then be helpless against sin and evil and temptation?

Shade: Pretty much.

Campbell: So if it’s fair to say that by not allowing Jesus into your life, he is rendered powerless….

Shade: Well, I wouldn’t say powerless. Jesus is never powerless….

Campbell: …ineffective then. So if this works against Jesus, why not render the devil ineffective too by not allowing him into your life? By not believing in him?

Shade: Because there’s always going to be temptation to make things difficult. By not believing in the devil won’t make him go away.

Campbell: And this is what I’m getting at. What if the devil is something else entirely? And what if instead of endlessly, eternally wrestling with him, you could actually stop him for good? Temptation may always exist, as an illusion only, but what happens when you reach the point of not being tempted?

Shade: So what is the devil then?

Campbell: First, let me further explain how this way of thinking can be beneficial. By believing in the devil, you place all of your problems and difficulties on an outside source. And as everyone is well aware, no matter how hard you try, you can’t change another person to be what you want them to be. Because they are outside of ourselves. We blame everyone for our problems, a principle that goes back as far as Genesis. Adam blames Eve for eating the apple, Eve blames the snake and the snake blames God.
Now if you shift your focus to something you can control, something inside of you, now you’re faced with the possibility of actually winning. There’s a quote that explains this perfectly:

“I can’t change the world, but I can change the world in me.”

If you’re tempted to sin, and you believe that this is your thought and no one else is to blame (not even the object of your desire) then you are then able to change that thought and thereby overcome the temptation and the sin.

Shade: All right, hold it right there. There’s a bunch of things you said I need to confront you on. Let me just hold off on those for a few minutes and explain to me what is the devil.

Campbell: The devil is just another word for the Ego. And the ego is that part of you that believes illusions are reality. It believes that the shadow on the road is water. It’s that part of you that says ‘my needs are more important than your needs’. It’s not the devil that’s whispering to you, but your own voice. And you can change what the voice is saying.
The ego is that part of you that when in traffic you switch lanes and slow the person down behind you and think to yourself, ‘I’m running late, I wouldn’t normally do this’. Yet when it happens to you, when you get cut off and the other driver is thinking exactly the same thing, you’re incensed, outraged.
The ego believes in punishment rather than solutions. It believes in being right, rather than being kind. It believes in comparison: my story is more painful that your story. It believes in a ‘dog eat dog’ world.

Shade: But we need the ego in order to survive. In some instances, the ego is a positive force. Otherwise we’d all be walked all over. The ego keeps you from starving.

Campbell: Yes, but at what cost? If you kill a man over a piece of bread in order to feed your starving family – could you see Jesus doing this? Of course not. We do not need the ego to survive. The ego needs the ego in order for it to survive. The ego will kill for bread to keep the body alive, because without the physical body, the ego simply cannot exist. What need is there of an ego when you are a spirit? There’s no need for food, no need for work, or for a roof over your head. The ego dies, with the body. You might say that the ego is the body.
Every ancient religion teaches that the spirit is eternal, it cannot die. Yet the physical body does die. It decays. It’s not eternal. I can guarantee that the spirit does not worry about the body dying, because the spirit cannot die. The body is simply a tool, a learning device. I think we can all agree that when we die, we continue in another, as of yet, unknown form. We are not our bodies.
The ego is in constant fear of the body dying because it cannot live without it, so it is in constant conflict to ‘look out for number one’.
If you die of starvation, your spirit simply shrugs and says ‘so what?’ Do you worry when you outgrow your clothes? I mean, to the point where you will do anything, and I mean anything to keep them? Would you kill someone to make your clothes fit. Or would you too simply shrug and buy yourself a new shirt?

Shade: Okay, so if you sat the ego is the devil and we must force ourselves to think differently than our ego, how do we keep ourselves from being walked all over? It sounds to me like you just want everyone to lay down and become a welcome mat.

Campbell: Yes that is precisely the argument the ego would use. It doesn’t want to be walked upon, but do you think the spirit cares?

Shade: So you’re saying forget about our self-esteem, and forget about our dreams because when we’re dead it won’t matter.

Campbell: No, not at….

Shade: I’m very much alive right now. I don’t like pain. Everybody I know doesn’t like pain. I’m not going to shove my hand in a fire and scream and think to myself, ‘this is just an illusion, when I’m dead, it won’t matter’. For the rest of my life, my hand will be scarred, there will be years of agonizing healing and it may never work properly again. That is a simple, plain truth. That is the world we live in. There’s always going to be pain and misery and sorrow. What you’re saying is that if you don’t have an ego, you’ll never be hurt and that’s entirely false.

Campbell: Actually, it’s the ego that would thrust your hand into a fire, to prove to itself that it exists. The spirit, knowing it’s eternal and knows it does exist and does not need proof – would simply not put your hand in the fire in the first place. The spirit is not stupid, nor is it complacent.

Shade: All right, someone grabs my wrist and forces my hand into the fire and even though I struggle and can’t get loose, I still get burned. Am I supposed to just give in and let someone harm me?

Campbell: Not at all. The spirit is not stupid, nor ignorant. In this example, there are so many factors to consider. Such as why would someone want to bring you harm? Was something done to them? They must feel threatened in someway.

Shade: Because some people are just crazy. They don’t need a reason to harm you. Harming you is simply enough for them. And for those kinds of people they actually get a kick out of it. It brings them pleasure.

Campbell: Yes, but what did Jesus do when people threw stones at him?

Shade: He ran away.

Campbell: Exactly. You don’t have to sit there and take it. You ran away for safety sake. You can run, to ensure that this body, this tool remains in condition, for it to serve its purpose. The ego will try and convince you that you’re trying to run away from your problems. The problem with the ego is that we want vengeance, we want justification to throw the stone back. Look how far back in our own lives the ego stretches. Even in the schoolyard, when two children are fighting, one always says ‘he started it’. That’s justification for reacting poorly.
My very good friend, Xavier, once said to me: ‘When someone throws mud at you and sling mud right back, in the end all you have is two people covered in mud’.
The ego thinks, ‘if I’m going to be covered, then you should be too. Why should I be the only one that’s dirty?’ The problem isn’t that you’re covered in mud, the problem is that you muddy yourself by wanting revenge.

Shade: So run from confrontation. What if they keep after you? Chase you down?

Campbell: Oh they won’t stop at times, some egos are relentless. But its more helpful to regroup than it is to react with a knee-jerk reaction. You see when harm came to Jesus he slipped away; he also used his wisdom to avoid places he knew he could not influence. If you’re up against someone who won’t stop, perhaps you’ve willingly and knowingly entered a place you had no way of influencing. Now on the flip side, Jesus didn’t back down from the Pharisees. Instead he was quite harsh with them. But he did this selflessly; he stood up to them on behalf of the people who were under their oppression. He received no personal gain from it, not even glory. He did not do it to throw mud at them, or in self-defense, not even to get revenge. It was done for the benefit of those listening to their venom. And as we discovered it eventually came at great cost to himself. That is what is meant by ‘he died on the cross for us’. He didn’t die to wipe away some celestial book of sins; he died to enlighten out minds to the truth, which is to not succumb to the ego. I mean think about, he’s standing before Pilate and he has the ability to save himself. He could’ve performed a miracle on the spot and freed himself. And then what would have happened? Would he have died of old age as an obscure prophet? How much would the message have changed?
Instead he chose silence, and by his silence to say ‘the message is far greater than myself, greater than this body’, which is essentially the message. We’re free to crucify each other and ourselves until the day we choose to stop. Do you not see that had he saved himself, the message would have then became ‘save your own skin’? The message would have made the ego right. He would’ve been no better than you or I. He died to show us what is important. The message. Or the body.

Shade: Jesus died on the cross for our sins, that’s what scripture says. He died to prepare a way into Heaven for us. And by proclaiming Jesus Christ as your Saviour, can you be saved.

Campbell: Correct. And you can’t get there with the devil at your side or the ego on the inside. Without Jesus’ teachings and his death, we would still be ignorant of the ego and ignorant to the fact that we can overcome it.

Shade: You make it sound like a pretty rotten deal. If we do the right thing, we’ll pay a high price and if you follow the ego, people will leave you alone. Sounds pretty harsh to me. Sounds like Satan’s work from where I sit.
Now I want to jump back a bit when you said ‘not even the object of your desire is to blame’.

Campbell: All right.

Shade: Let me get this straight. If I’m watching a sitcom and halfway through a commercial comes on and in it is a scantily clad woman appearing in a tempting fashion – I’m to blame for lustful thoughts and she, or the advertising company is not?

Campbell: Well, you could change the channel.

Shade: Oh please, I shouldn’t have to change the channel! There has to be some accountability on the other party. You can’t thrust breasts in someone’s face and expect them to close their eyes or look the other way. That’s just not realistic. Can you do that?

Campbell: No, but that’s why I’m a ‘part-time sinner’. Actually I agree with what you just said, I was merely being facetious. You’re correct, there should be accountability, but in the end you are responsible for your own thoughts. But being aroused by an image is not a sin; it’s an illusion….

Shade: How can you say that? Lustful thoughts are sinful. It’s covetousness.

Campbell: It’s not a sin in itself. The sin is when it’s self-serving. When you see an image and you think, ‘boy would I like to ravish her’ becomes a problem because its entirely self-serving and self-gratifying. There’s no thought about the other person and their wishes. That is where the so-called sin lies. And any of these sins, lust, desire, whatever, is simply a symptom of another problem. Wanting something so badly is an indication that there is something missing in your life. Which is another illusion. You have everything you could want; thinking that you don’t is where the problem lies. Being tempted is fine. Acting on it is another story all together. And that is where accountability comes in. You can’t blame the television, or the advertisers, because in the end it is up to you if you act on this desire.

Shade: So they have no accountability then. That’s what you’re saying.

Campbell: Let me put it to you another way. If no one in the world acted on his or her selfish desires, would there be a need to have a scantily clad woman selling chapstick? Of course not, but until we choose to stop, we’ll continue to be faced with temptation. It’s Jesus in the desert. After resisting temptation three times, what use is it trying to tempt him further? The victory is there and the need for temptation is no longer a threat.

Shade: I just don’t have that much faith in the entire world.

Campbell: And you don’t need to. You just need to have enough faith in yourself.

Shade: I just don’t see how being nice and changing my thoughts is going to end something like terrorism. Terrorists don’t care if you’re nice. Thousands of nice people died on 9-11.

Campbell: It is the ego’s belief that it can change another person. It is the spirit’s belief that it need only change itself.

Shade: Be that as it may, how does Jesus factor into all of this? It seems to me that by taking sway the devil, you’re also taking away Jesus. And I’ll tell you there’s already too much of that going on in the world today. That’s another victory for Satan. Are we not supposed to believe in anything?

Campbell: Yes, believe in everything, but illusions. And you are right, if we take away Jesus it is a victory for the devil, the ego. That means you take away hope. It comes down to what you want to choose to do. Believe in the devil or believe in God. Bad versus Evil. Which side do you want to be on? And who is to say that if a woman arouses you you’ve chosen evil? You’ve only chosen an illusion.
I just don’t see how believing in the devil is helpful to my spiritual development. The devil is an outside, intangible device. The ego, on the other hand, is ourselves, it’s internal and it can be changed.

Shade: Hmm, I don’t know, sounds kinda’ new age to me and not scripturally based.

Campbell: Actually this is entirely scripturally based. It was Jesus who said ‘even the very least among you can do all that I have done and even greater things’. The very least among us! That means even a thief, even a pedophile can change. And they can do even more that what Jesus did. The ego would have us believe that because we’ve not seen a pedophile be ‘cured’ means we never will.
Take the forty days and forty nights Jesus spent in the desert and was tempted three times by the devil. Now re-read this story and substitute ‘ego’ for ‘devil’. The story doesn’t change at all, nor the message. Can you imagine how Jesus must have first felt, discovering he power over physical law? That he as this unfathomable wisdom? The temptation comes from within; wouldn’t it be tempting to use this power for personal gain? If he wished, Jesus would never have to worry about starving for he simply could turn stone into bread. He could even be immortal, conquer death, even from leaping from a cliff. With this ability, he would never have to work a day to provide food on the table. With this power, his own power, mind you, not what the devil has given him, but he could even rule the world. To run things the way he thinks it should be run. And as you can see all three temptations are self-serving. They are not for the benefit of others. When Jesus did leave the desert he used his power to feed others, to resurrect others, to empower others.
The story of the temptation in the desert seems to me, at any rate, a story of how Jesus overcame his own self-serving ego. I think it would be unbearably tempting to abuse the power he had for personal gain. The greater the power, the greater the temptation.
And it is no coincidence that it was after overcoming this test, overcoming selfishness, his ego, that he began his ministry, and not before. It was after this incident that he performed his first miracle. He always had the ability, but he chose to not use it, until he was certain his motives were pure and true. So, as you can see, Jesus is the light and the way, he is the blueprint for hope. He is the only one that we know of that has done it.

Shade: Well, it’s a nice philosophy, but really I don’t think scripturally you’re accurate. Jesus had no ego. He was born the Son of God. He was not mortal. The temptation in the desert is about Jesus defeating the devil. That’s what scripture says.

Campbell: I don’t consider it ‘philosophy’. I consider it truth.

Shade: Jesus exorcised devils, scripture is full of these kinds of stories. He cast them out. So how can you say that he didn’t do this? There were eyewitnesses that say someone they knew was possessed. Demonic possession. You’re saying that when Jesus called Lucifer by name, that even he didn’t know what he was talking about. Jesus did not say ‘ego be gone’, he said ‘devil be gone’. If it wasn’t the devil, Jesus would have said so; he wouldn’t have used an improper term. Even the Roman Catholic Church practices exorcism.

Campbell: Well as it’s pointed out in scripture, the so-called devil refers to itself as Legion. ‘We are known by many names’. I would suggest that devil and ego and pride are just a few of the names. And devil and demon were the words of the time. Just as ‘it rained for forty days and forty nights’ or ‘Jesus went into the desert for forty days and forty night’, those were expressions of the time. Not meant to be taken literally forty calendar days. It simply meant that it rained for a long, undetermined time. Similar to using a term like ‘fortnight’ which is about two weeks, or saying ‘I’m starving’ when in fact it’s an exaggeration. A way of saying I’m hungry.
So, no, Jesus was not wrong, he was speaking in terms that the people of the time would understand.
I’m not suggesting that Jesus didn’t know what he was speaking about when he commanded the devil to leave a body. But what if the ‘possessed’ person was simply having an epileptic seizure? And Jesus healed the man of it? The people of the time wouldn’t know what epilepsy was and so to them, a person shaking, screaming and foaming at the mouth inexplicably would seem like possession. A solar eclipse would have been read as a bad omen to these people. And if it was a medical problem, even people today are possessed by medical problems. We’ve simply grown and have a better (but not complete) understanding of things.

Shade: Oh come on, you’re calling demonic possession epilepsy? That’s like blaming the parting of the Red Sea on lunar tides. And there are people today who are still being possessed. As I mentioned, the Catholic Church performs exorcisms, they can tell if the person has a medical problem. And now, you’re determining what Jesus meant versus what he said. So should we change the written word to match our terminology?

Campbell: Oh no, not at all. Keep scripture as it is, but be careful when taking things literally. Sometimes symbolism is an effective way to convey meaning and even scripture uses this device. And sometimes we need to take our historical knowledge and help it to grow, just as we’re growing.

Shade: Scripture is complete, it’s God’s word. God’s truth. God doesn’t need your help.

Campbell: There was a time when our forefathers thought it was a good idea to insulate our grade schools with asbestos. And then along the way we learned it cause disastrous health problems.

Shade: Gut God didn’t tell out forefathers to use asbestos as insulation. That was something we did all on our own. We’re talking about scripture and what it says. I don’t know I’m having a lot of trouble with this. It sounds to me like you’re splitting hairs over calling a rose by another name. It’s still a rose no matter what you call it.

Campbell: Yes it is. And the devil by any other name is still extremely dangerous. I would just like to see our focus shift from the external to the internal. To simply give each other hope that we can change things.

Shade: Then by that rationale, Jesus wasted his time. What’s the point of having a Saviour then? You’re negating Jesus Christ as our Saviour at the same time as negating the devil.

Campbell: Jesus still remains the blueprint. The how and the hope. Can you think of another example of someone who did not once give in to his ego? Even in the end? Even through torturous death?

Shade: The devil is real. Satan exists. The devil will always be here to tempt us and lead us astray. That’s just reality. By saying anything else you’re being misled and you’re misleading others. It’s only through Jesus Christ that we can be saved from eternal damnation. Without the Saviour, there is no salvation for anyone.

(Heavy sigh)

Well, our time is up and I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree. I appreciate your time….

Campbell: Thank you for having me, Paul. It’s been my pleasure.

Shade: We’ve just been talking to Lucas Campbell. I want to caution my listeners to be careful. Pray for guidance and a clear mind and a clear conscience before you pick up one of his books. And it wouldn’t help to pray for Mr. Campbell. He makes a convincing argument, but I don’t know it’s a little too new age for me. And a rose by any other name is still a rose. The devil is real folks. He exists. Only by proclaiming Jesus Christ as your Saviour can you expect to make it to Heaven. Period. If you think the devil doesn’t exist, you’re only fooling yourselves and I think you’re running the danger of allowing Satan complete control over your life.
Anyway, we’re out of time and I’m out of skepticism, so until tomorrow, take care and God bless.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow we’ll be taking your calls on the question: ‘If Jesus were alive today, what kind of car would he drive?’