The passage from Mark’s Gospel was about casting out demons. The conversation bounced around as we talked about modern understandings of physical and mental illnesses, and then we settled on what it feels like to be controlled by an external force. One man described the powerlessness he felt when he was on drugs–wanting to resist, but helpless to act. Then he related what a friend had told him in a Narcotics Anonymous meeting: “Don’t think you are cursed. We are the chosen ones. It’s because of our dependencies that we know we have to depend on God.”
Wow! Talk about Resurrection thinking! The very thing that was killing you is the door to life. Only when you give up the pride of doing it yourself can you receive the gift that is always a gift and never achieved.
I commented later that it was good to be in this group because so many men participated in the discussion. One man replied, “It’s because we’re so thirsty for the Word.” And so they are.