Halloween special
Are there ghouls and vampires among us? Living dead who want to eat our brains. Soul suckers? Yes. And they’re disguised as real people.
Reference verse:
“But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”” – Matthew 26-28 (NASB)
I believe that some people feed off negativity, revenge, chaos, negative social identity, and other human foibles. They look for leaders who spread this poison and have the power to address it. It’s in their nature, or at least emphasized at some point for their gain. They are typically manipulated by these people and leaders for their gain. The leaders don’t have their interests at heart.
Living dead who want to eat our brains
For some with a negative outlook on life, every bad event is just confirmation that their view is correct. These are “glass half full” or skeptics. They can only see bad outcomes.
Any development that people see good things in, they point out everything that they think will go wrong. Perhaps they’ve been hurt or disappointed in the past and have a difficult time finding trust in others and hope.
We can help these people by being people they can trust and by emphasizing positive outcomes. At some point the pile of positive evidence has to carry some weight in their minds.
Hope comes from the love of God for all. That can be kind of abstract to people, especially if they expect God to provide a perfect life without problems.
“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” ~Nelson Mandela
If we allow these people to influence our thinking, they have eaten our brains.
Hope exists in the conviction in our heart that somehow things will work out okay. Or we will live to see a better day. Or we will reach our goal if we keep working hard for it. Or knowing that God loves us and wants the best for us. That kind of hope is based on past positive experiences and intuition. This is where pessimists become optimists, unless habit prevails.
Even the dying exhibit hope
They often focus on relationships and even on mending bad relationships. They hope to be well remembered. Spirituality may bring hope. And an end to struggles brings hope.
Hope Is a Choice to Make Things Better.
Vampires
There are those who suck the life out of people, forcing them to live in fear and focusing on the negative. 4 Types Of Soul-Sucking People Whose Negativity Will Destroy You
In literature, the vampire is a very powerful undead creature that can be unnaturally attractive, seducing people into giving over their lives to them because they seem powerful in the face of any threat. (Natalie Imbruglia – Torn)
In real life there are people who have these same attributes, attracting people to them to become dedicated to them or slaves who serve them. They cite many things in the world that we should be fearful of, yet it is they we should fear.
“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.“ Matthew 10: 28
It’s natural to fear challenges and unfamiliar things in our lives. Our brains seemed to be programmed to look for what can hurt us, as a natural defense. Yet most things won’t hurt us. We just have to learn to be careful around them and learn how to control them.
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” – 2 Timothy 1:7
We can help these people by showing them there is power in God. Through doing things God’s way we improve our relationships with others and find the confidence to overcome challenges. If God is with us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)
Demons and goblins – toxic things in our lives
These supernatural creatures can seem friendly and helpful, even mischievous. But they are also malicious. Don’t feed them after midnight or put them in water. (Gremlins movie trailer.)
I regard these as toxic entities that can keep you focusing on the negative about yourself. They drag you down into the depths of despair. “I’m too fat to have friends and a spouse. I’m unpopular. Nobody likes me, I think I’ll go eat worms. I’ve done terrible things to others. I can never achieve what others have and never get a good job. I’m alone. No one cares about me.” (Zach Williams – Fear Is a Liar)
Their favorite form of self-reflection is gossip about others. Other people are always talking about you. The negative things in gossip are things you can also see in yourself. Gossip can take the form of hate propaganda that makes people feel helpless to change things when the world around them is so against them.
Jesus said, “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” Matthew 5:37 (NASB)
At some point, feeling totally hopeless to change your situation, in the depths of despair, you hide and never achieve your full potential, or you do something harmful to yourself or others. This is the demon’s goal.
Some spread propaganda to make us suspicious of everyone and hate everyone. The Nazis did this. In this TED Talk, How to fight (and win) an information war | Peter Pomerantsev | TEDxMidAtlantic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFFhvH-WzYM&list=WL&index=1 He realized that the Nazis used heightened emotion to get people riled up. Those who countered the propaganda did the same.
Emotion is much more powerful in driving our behavior than mere facts alone.
People get transfixed by loneliness, isolation, and feelings of hopelessness to change anything. They resort to violence to make a statement. This applies to terrorists, school shooters, and employees. Others do it because of their endless focus on hate.
We can help these people by reaching out to them and loving them. We can’t always paint a positive picture regarding events in their lives or the world. But people who are grounded in love and relationships rarely become destructive to themselves or others.
We can help people refocus their identity by helping them focus on positive things in life rather than the negative.
The Toxic Effects of Negative Self-Talk.
Rumination: A Cycle of Negative Thinking.
How to stay positive around negative people? Try these 7 tips.
Conclusion
Are there dark and demonic forces in our world? There are in as much as they exist within us. We are our own worst enemy. Hardwired to look for things that will hurt us, we find it easy to always see the negative and to always think negatively about ourselves.
With Jesus in our lives, there is nothing to fear. As Churchill said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself,” as he stood up to the Nazis who had swept across Europe and were ready to invade England. With God in our lives, who can be against us?
If we let them, there are people in this world who want us to focus on fear. They want to own us and manipulate us so that they gain power. These can include the news media, politicians, hate groups, and special interest groups. If people are trying to divide us, we need to be very skeptical of their motives. There is more strength in unity.
(Sarah McLachlan – Building A Mystery)
Probability Space
What probability spaces can we open in our minds to identify those who try to bring us down or divide us for their own gain?
Potential Space
If you think creatively and allow your mind to wander and explore, can we identify the demons in our own minds that undermine what we want to do?
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. This helps me improve my work.
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My friend, David Ketcherside, former Christian broadcaster, has written a book series that I gave feedback on. It’s for men, written from his experience, thoughtful analysis, and heart. Gen A, Z, and X (Millennials) would find it very helpful. It’s available in print, on Kindle, and as an audiobook on Audible. Check out The Whole Dude. His description: “My hope is to remind readers what being whole looks like, and help them recognize the distortions that stop us from feeling totally awesome all the time.” He’s also excellent at marketing if you have marketing needs.
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– Dorian
Our answer is God. God’s answer is us. Together we make the world better.
Restore and recreate. Take time to celebrate life. Laugh, sing, and dance regularly, even every day. Happy. This is why we dance to celebrate life: Reindeer actually running and dancing.
Civic service opportunities
Do Unto Others Kindness Campaign, and civic engagement.
United Methodist Church Volunteer Opportunities.
Join or support Zero Hour and amplify the voices of youth organizing for climate action.
Peoples Hub. Resistance, Resilience, Restoration, Re-imagination. Online Popular Education. For movement workers to learn, connect, collaborate, and strategize – in and across the disability justice and solidarity economy movements.
Stakeholder Capitalism – a video podcast series from the World Economic Forum. Can capitalism be made to work for all of us – and to improve rather than destroy the state of the planet?
General service and aid opportunities (on One Spirit Resources Website). To add your service opportunity to the One Spirit Resources list, contact the author (me) through Facebook Messenger. Note that I only friend people I know.
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Education Opportunities for new generations
Becoming an Entrepreneur – MITx online
Evaluating Social Programs – MITx online
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Bible scripture verses are New American Standard Version (NASB), unless noted.
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Author and books
Appease the Volcano: What does God require from people? The voices of the ancients from many religions echo much of the same things: It starts with law, then mercy and forgiveness, then love. Love is a major emphasis in all major religions and replaces law.
The Prophetic Pattern: Ancient and Modern Prophecy: How to distinguish the intent of various types of prophecies and oracles, both ancient and modern.
Preparing For the Future Of Work and Education: Analysis of the kinds of jobs that AI and Robotics will displace, and the educational requirements for them. AI will replace or augment thirty percent of jobs. This is an in-depth analysis citing many authoritative sources.
Author Website: Dorian Scott Cole
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