Therapy for the Devil
‘You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.’
John 8:44
The central theological question is:
Is Satan truly evil,
Or just acting out his pain?
Could he come to heal his hurt,
Or would his efforts be in vain?
If he met his inner child
Would his hatred start to wain?
Would you trust him if he did
Or suspect a feign?
Could he find redemption
Or has God forever damned him in Hell to reign?
Why is it the central question?
Because it leads to the central question of psychology:
Is evil truly evil
Or is hurt in fact to blame?
This has been the question
Ever since the act of Cain
Are the worst amongst us
Simply acting out their pain?
Or are their souls just wicked
And irrevocably stained?
Which leads of course to the central question of self:
Is there that within me
For which I will ever be blamed?
Or is there hope of redemption
And freedom from these chains?
If I condemn even Satan
Then is it possible to claim?
My own sense of forgiveness
And freedom from my shame
If the latter is the case then an eternal lake of fire will probably only exacerbate the problem
