Facing the Devils
(with help from our sisters of the past)
I was raised English Sunday School - a classic, polite protestantism which I sometimes jokingly call 'God's frozen people' - but I walked away from Christianity many years ago.
But my Mum's faith is enduring, as was my late Father's, and I'm lucky to have many kind, compassionate Christians in my world (yes, the ones practising the stuff Jesus actually taught... not the other kind 😬).
And thanks to some of those voices, I was reminded recently that our experiences of moving through a complicated world, witnessing suffering, anxious about how things might turn out, is not a new thing.
The medieval period in Europe was a time of great turmoil, danger, uncertainty and suffering.
But the solution for staying human and navigating through was the same as it is now.
Compassion.
Mechthild of Magdeburg was a Christian mystic who lived from about 1207 to nearly the end of that century.
She was the first woman to have her words printed in Low German - just as Dame Julian of Norwich was the first woman to have her words printed in English.
She said:
"Compassion means that if I see my friend and my enemy in equal need, I shall help them both equally. Justice demands that we seek and find the stranger, the broken, the prisoner and comfort them and offer them our help. Here lies the holy compassion of God that causes the devils much distress." (my emphasis)
We have a lot of 'devils' to contend with.
Of course there are those in the White House, those gleefully shouting down Indigenous Australian voices, those attacking the trans community, those taking delight in their own cruel bigotry.
Compassion is a beautiful act of political defiance, in the face of that devilry.
And I'm also thinking about the internal devils - the voices of those who have criticised us, punished us, judged us, condemned us and shamed us; the voices which were installed in our brains and began to sound like our own voices.
I call them the brain weasels, because they're sneaky, bitey little creatures with sharp claws.
"You're not strong enough / smart enough / wise enough"
"You don't deserve this much kindness / praise / money"
"You forgot to do that thing / you haven't done enough, you loser!"
However sharp their teeth might be, they're not actually life-threatening.
And when I remember how small they are compared to me, it's really kind of funny, that my brain tricks me into taking them so seriously.
They are the internal devils installed by systems which seek to hold me back.
They are devils which do not answer to reason or logic.
And they are also devils which will flee, in the face of my fierce devotion to self-compassion.
How is your self-compassion plan coming along?
If you're already really expert at self-compassion, where have you found places to get EVEN BETTER?
If you're struggling to get started, reach out and let me know, or stay tuned for future articles. We will figure it out!
Meanwhile, give an occasional thought to our medieval sisters, Mechthild and Dame Julian, with whom we have much in common.