Unclean Spirits Silent and Cast out
Channel: Daniel Kellerman
Date: 01/02/2015

Not to Destroy but to Calm and Set Free
What does it mean to teach with authority, to command even the unclean spirits? A young man, off his
medication for mental illness and armed with an assault rifle, walked into a grade school and began
shooting at the police and at the floor. The story ended in relief. The bookkeeper in the office talked with
him, talked of her own struggles, kept him talking, told him she loved him, talked him into laying down his
weapon, surrendering peacefully, and getting help.
Despite her inward terror, she projected a calm, matter-of-fact tone that got through to the troubled young
man and saved innumerable lives. Nobody was hurt. It helped that she and her colleagues had drilled for
hostile emergencies, but the result still seemed miraculous.
Rarely can words alone\ disarm a person intending to kill or reach a chemically imbalanced mind, but every
so often they do; and then we are astounded and amazed. Who knows how much violence we never hear
about because it has been defused by calm authority and the right words?
In today's gospel, an unclean spirit that possesses a man threatens to dominate the synagogue service in
Capemaum. Jesus creates a safe space, not by destroying the spirit but by speaking to it in terms it hears
and obeys. The man is set free. The congregation marvels.
Anybody can give orders that other people are compelled to follow. But true authority draws upon deep
wells of interior love and strength. It relies upon self-knowledge and self-possession and is grounded in
something larger than the self. It is clear about the dignity of others, calling forth the best from them,
surprising them with what they can accomplish. It liberates and heals. It elicits respect and trust. It attracts
willing followers, and their gifts of energy and time.
Fear of destruction leads any of us to our worst. Someone who can quiet our fear wins our hearts.