:
Once we’ve turned to
the Lord – in our selfexamination, in our
repentance – the Lord
can be with us, along with
all of His goodness and
truth. We can experience
the freedom and peace
that the Lord’s life brings.
me. The thing that’s wrong with this
relationship is that person. This
world is getting worse and worse.
Life isn’t fair. I’ve got it worse than
anyone else.”
The list could go on and on.
Thousands of false ideas. A legion of
lies whispering in our ear, keeping
us trapped in the wilderness, away
from having good relationships with
other people. “My name is Legion.”
“And he begged Him that He
would not send them out of the
country.” It often feels like these
voices in our head are our voices. So
the thought of just taking them away, just casting them out, feel s like it would
destroy us. What will be left of me if I get rid of these ideas? These are ideas I’ve
always had. It feels like we will literally go “out of our mind” if we give them up,
like the evil spirits didn’t want to go out of the country.
When we allow the Lord into our lives, we sometimes fear that we will
lose something, that we’ll have to give something up. We’ve gotten used to the
lies we tell ourselves. We’ve gotten used to the destructive behaviors we find
ourselves in. We feel like we will be destroyed if they are cast out of us. There
won’t be anything of us left.
So Legion begged the Lord to send them into the pigs. Now here is where
we get to the answer. Why was Legion cast out into pigs? We know from the
Writings of Swedenborg that pigs or swine represent evil loves. (Apocalypse
Explained 659.6; Arcana Coelestia 1742:3)
This would have been well known at that time. Pigs were unclean animals
(Deuteronomy 14:8), as can be seen several times in the Bible. For example,
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest
they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” (Matthew
7:6) And also the story of the Prodigal Son, who at his lowest point would have
eaten the slop of pigs. (Luke 15) Pigs were identified with what was evil.
When the Lord sends the evil spirits into the pigs our false ideas are
externalized. The Lord’s Divine Truth gives us perspective on our own
demons. We see the lies as if from outside, like the man saw the evil spirits
in the pigs. We see them for what they really are – something that will try to
pull us down, like the pigs running violently down into the sea. (Apocalypse
Explained 538:13, 659.6; True Christian Religion 614)
When we don’t identify with the voices in our head, it is easier to determine
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