"Long ago I despaired of ever loving my neighbour. Certain people... repelled me. "How could I love them?" I thought. It tormented me, Damien; it led me to despair of myself... and from that, very soon, to despair of my God. My faith was shattered..."
Damien Karras looked up at Merrin with interest. "And what happened?" he asked.
"Ah, well... at last I realised that God would never ask of me that which I know to be psychologically impossible; that the love which He asked was in my will and not meant to be felt as an emotion at all. Not at all. He was asking that I act with love, that I do unto others; and that I should do it unto those who repelled me, I believe, was a greater act of love than any other." He shook his head. "I know that all of this must seem very obvious, Damien. I know. But at the time, I could not see it. Strange blindness. How many husbands and wives", he muttered sadly, "must believe they have fallen out of love because their hearts no longer race at the sight of their beloveds! Ah, dear God!"
He shook his head, and then nodded.
"There it lies, I think, Damien... possession; not in wars, as some tend to believe; not so much; and very seldom in extraordinary interventions such as here.. this girl... this poor child. No, I see it most often in the little things, Damien: in the senseless, petty spites; the misunderstandings; the cruel and cutting word that leaps unbidden to the tongue between friends. Between lovers. Enough of these", Merrin whispered, "and we have no need of Satan to manage our wars; these we manage for ourselves... for ourselves..."
"And yet even from this - from evil - will come good. In some way. In some way that we may never understand or ever see." Merrin paused. "Perhaps evil is the crucible of goodness", he brooded. "And perhaps even Satan - Satan, in spite of himself - somehow serves to work out the will of God."
-The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
---..
Damien Karras looked up at Merrin with interest. "And what happened?" he asked.
"Ah, well... at last I realised that God would never ask of me that which I know to be psychologically impossible; that the love which He asked was in my will and not meant to be felt as an emotion at all. Not at all. He was asking that I act with love, that I do unto others; and that I should do it unto those who repelled me, I believe, was a greater act of love than any other." He shook his head. "I know that all of this must seem very obvious, Damien. I know. But at the time, I could not see it. Strange blindness. How many husbands and wives", he muttered sadly, "must believe they have fallen out of love because their hearts no longer race at the sight of their beloveds! Ah, dear God!"
He shook his head, and then nodded.
"There it lies, I think, Damien... possession; not in wars, as some tend to believe; not so much; and very seldom in extraordinary interventions such as here.. this girl... this poor child. No, I see it most often in the little things, Damien: in the senseless, petty spites; the misunderstandings; the cruel and cutting word that leaps unbidden to the tongue between friends. Between lovers. Enough of these", Merrin whispered, "and we have no need of Satan to manage our wars; these we manage for ourselves... for ourselves..."
"And yet even from this - from evil - will come good. In some way. In some way that we may never understand or ever see." Merrin paused. "Perhaps evil is the crucible of goodness", he brooded. "And perhaps even Satan - Satan, in spite of himself - somehow serves to work out the will of God."
-The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
---..
