Wednesday, July 20, 2005

It's really NOT all for you, Damien

I'm pretty easy to scare. I mean EASY to scare. Odd noises scare me, shadows scare me, strange lights scare me. One night a few weeks ago I came home late to my grandparents' house and drank a glass of ice water before heading to bed. When I touched the dishwasher, their intercom system sprang to life with this horrible static-y noise. Then a bunch of napkins fell on the floor from across the room. I freaked out, set down the glass, and ran to bed. I'm sure all those things can be explained logically, but I'm not logical-- I'm scared.

Movies scare me too. The Village wasn’t even supposed to be scary, but when that girl was all turned around in the woods, my heart was POUNDING. Ok, so I’m a retard and should probably toughen up a bit. Still, there is a good reason for fear. It drives us away from dangerous situations. It’s a protective mechanism that, in many cases, one should listen to. Some things in life really are scary.

The 1976 film The Omen is one of those movies that would scare anyone. It is by far the scariest thing I’ve ever witnessed. It is not scary because people die or because that little kid’s eyes get red, it is scary because it is demonic.

Spiritual warfare is real. The Omen brought this to the big screen. The movie is frightening because the forces with which it deals really do exist. However, the eventual conclusion is “Satan wins.”

There is a true Enemy who stands opposed to every person on this earth. He is the master of fear, holding dark movies like The Omen up to shatter our will. He tells us we cannot prevail against him… but this is NOT true.

When I was in Northern Ireland (a place ruled by fear), Cliff referred me to Psalm 27 where King David proclaims; “The LORD is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? The LORD protects me from danger—so why should I tremble?” The Omen does well to point out the earthly battle between good and evil, but it does not award the prize to the TRUE victor. The Book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of the real Hero. So like I said, scary things exist in the world, but even if they scare us, we shouldn’t be ruled by fear because One greater than ourselves has already triumphed.

Fox recently announced plans to remake The Omen. I will not see it. The film is not a healthy admonition to be awake to spiritual warfare. It is a seed of evil and defeatism that caught me once before but will not snare me again. I’m going to live by faith and claim Psalm 97:10: “Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”

I may get jumpy sometimes, but I trust my God to protect me. In the words of Kevin McCallister, "I'm not afraid anymore."

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