Finding Our Sanity

What makes us go crazy?

Do we all have a demon inside, something that makes us forget the limits of sanity and just lose it?

Or are only some capable of doing outrageous things, to lose their mind, slightly, completely, in the blink of an eye?

And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him. - 1 Samuel 16:23

In today's reading from Samuel, we begin with Saul having an episode.

Now the spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. 

It was believed at that time that any evil spirit that possessed man would come from the same source as the Spirit of God.  It was God's will that this happened.

But we don't like to think that it is God who makes us go nuts, do we?  Other forces, or our own human nature are at work, not God.

But whatever it is that sends us out of control, there seems to be an antidote, and David knows how to use it.

He uses music to tame the beast and quiet the soul, as troubled as it is in Saul's case.  And there is a lesson there, I think.

We are all made of the same stuff, as difficult as that is to accept or believe sometimes.  We like to think that there are people who are just plain crazy, and perhaps there is a point of no return when it comes to sanity, but what if we are all just elements on a sliding scale, capable of slipping one way or another at any time?

It's a frightening thought, isn't it?  It is so much safer to believe that most of us are incapable of going off the deep end, as they say.

The ancient view, in some ways, was more humane.  It is not man's fault for doing these things, but the fault of the spirit or demon in him.  Remove the demon and the man is cured, saved, restored to sanity.

Saul was a sick man.  He shouldn't have been made king, and God even changed his mind about that, favoring David to Saul, but Saul continued to cause havoc for years.

But David refused to kill Saul.  Instead, he repeatedly brought Saul back to his senses.

Would we do the same for someone who is a threat to society?

Probably not.  Our solution is to lock them away.

Today there are very few Insane Asylums, as they used to be called.  Instead we lock away our crazies in prison and we keep them there, out of sight, out of mind.  Or, we let them out on the streets to fend for themselves.

If there are evil spirits tormenting these people, are we being humane by keeping them in a state of constant torment?

It's a difficult question and a hard problem to solve.  Perhaps we can take a lesson from David and find what soothes their souls.  Perhaps we can employ a similar tactic to those tormented in small ways, to keep them from losing it in the first place.

Ah, but we've taken music and art out of the classrooms.  We say we can't afford such luxuries.

I wonder of the rise in crime and suicide among our youth has anything to do with that.

So, here is a radical thought.  What if we reintroduce David's lyre?  What if we embrace the arts and give kids an outlet for their anger and pain?  Maybe the beast will be calmed long enough for the spirit to strengthen and grow.

Maybe the troubled will find their sanity.

More to come...