Monsters scare and yet fascinate little kids. Just as Mom and Dad find it hard not to look at a wreck, even if such curiousity makes them feel ghoulish, so the little ones cannot avoid peeking at a scary movie. We don’t like being afraid for real, but the thrill of seeing something scary is real and can be fun if the frightening object isn’t real!
I had an uncle who could play a convincing wolfman and if it was a night when you were babysitting your cousin and his wolfman face appeared in the window when you glanced up, you were awake, alert, and afraid. An hour later I loved it. Like early Scooby Doo, the monster wasn’t real and my fun uncle was.
That is a comforting thought. My favorite Halloween movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas, is soothing this way. Vampires, ghosts, and other horrors are just players in the holiday biz and lovable in their creepy way. In their right place, they are at least as jolly as Saint Nick.
The only problem as we grow older is we learn horror and evil are quite real. Death is a bad thing and groups like ISIS aren’t kidding. They are humans playing at being monsters who have become bodies for devils. The monstrous can become real.
This truth, everyone doesn’t get rescued by meddling kids in a Mystery Machine, is a sign of the broken world. We know it should not be so, it should not, yet we have broken the world and we cannot pretend hard enough to wish the horror awày. The free will of evil men is beyond our control.
Just as we create literary monsters, we long for brownies, fairies, and elves. These are not the fair folk of ancient myths, but Victorian era copies that are safer, nicer, and can be controlled. They are our invisible friends and we cut a deal with them for treats. Sadly, we learn they too are not real.
Angels and devils exist, but they don’t do our will. God exists, but ancient atheists denied Him because He was uncontrollably omniscient and omnipotent. He is and He can do as He pleases. There is no trick that will work on God and no treat that can be bribe Him.
Reality for bad and good is not simply subject to our will. How can we keep from being afraid? We cannot. The existence of God omnipresent is enough to make a rational man afraid. Whatever God’s will, it will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
The good news is that this great God is good. He lets men misuse their free will and yet He is also just with eternity to make all things whole. He will not follow my plan or my timing because He wants deep justice not easy fixes.
I cannot control God. I must live with fear that becomes joy as He makes all things whole in time. Evil is real, but in His greatness God will wrench the twisted and broken things back into order. This too can be scary, but our fear turns to joy as we see His glory is bringing peace and goodwill to humankind.
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