Horror movies are not usually movies I am into, for various reasons. The first being, I don't really like to concentrate on or glorify evil. Horror movies may give some a cheap momentary thrill or the excitement for a late pajama party but if anyone has ever been in the presence of evil it is not something fun, it is probably the furthest thing from fun there is!
Secondly evil by its nature is dark, grotesque, horrible, cunning, cold, heartless and above all deceptive; there is no truth in it. It is by its very nature unreliable in everything it conveys because it is entirely deceptive nature. It lies, it cloak, it hides, and it seeks to warp truth and goodness at every opportunity because at its core it is the very antithesis of good, of right, of love. Evil is also extremely boastful, proud and arrogant. If you look at all the despotic leaders and rulers over the years you can see this vein of evil is in all of them; pride, arrogance and cruelty.
Now what horror movies tend to do is show the great 'power of evil'... It is almost a total power in some movies. There are countless scenes of people calling on 'higher powers' typically shakily holding onto a cross or some other relic and whimpering out hopeful prayers only to get whipped across the room like a rag doll. Individuals scream for mercy at the hands of some unearthly Demonic creature to get none. Usually by the climax of the movie some esoteric book or magic is found that manages to subdue the evil, or it is finally overcome (to some degree) by a priest performing an exorcism ritual, but usually only just. So powerful is the evil that it is usually only quelled temporarily, put in some magical box, or is finally just managed to be exorcised only to drift off leaving the viewer with the uneasy impression that it may soon be back... This time in part II no doubt.
I don't believe evil is all powerful, mainly because I have encountered a greater power - Love and as the bible and the outplayed life of Christ shows us, God IS love. Evil does have a power I believe, it has the ability to cause massive destruction, the wiping out of entire races of people, the ability to create serial killers, murderers the list goes on and on.
Aside from natural evils, such as floods, inferno's, earthquakes etc. evil for the most part is played out by human beings. Most of the evil we see around us is in the world in induced and harboured by humanity. We are the 'conduit' so to speak for this horrible force. We as humans have immense power, we have the ability to either cause peace, freedom and liberty to be spread over all the earth and on the same token we have the ability to spread the exact opposite of this, this is done by nothing more than the greatest gift we have... our free will.
It is debatable but most people will agree that humanity isn't inherently evil to its core, corrupt, messed-up, fallen or skewed maybe but not evil in essence. So logically there must be some realm or sphere where this evil comes from, and this evil (and humanities openness to it) is what causes humans to behave deplorably to one another, to hate, to cause pain and suffering on their fellow man. I believe that our free will is the gateway or 'portal' by which evil is made manifest in the world - evil is made apparent through us. It is also the gateway in which love, freedom and kindness can enter our world also, but in either case it all boils down to our free will (what we allow ourselves to think about, concentrate on, feel and subsequently act upon).
In saying this, evil and darkness does have the strange ability to manifest itself in reality without our cooperation or 'want' at times. Since time immemorial, ghostly apparitions, dark presences and evil spirits have been experienced by all cultures, creeds, races and countries across the globe, past and present - with no exception. No matter how 'technologically advanced' or 'educated' a country or region of the world is these occurrences have taken place and continue to do so - even in our post-modern westernised societies that for the most part shy away from the spiritual aspects of life. It only takes a bit of digging to find out how real and common these experiences are. You would be surprised even within your own circle of friends and family how much so. People seem to sweep these kinds of things under the rug for fear of ridicule from others or to avoid the stigma of mental instability. But for those who have experienced them, they are no figment of the imagination, they are very real.
Sometimes though we are unwilling participants in a spiritual drama we may be totally unaware of, like walking through a haunted house with no idea or involvement with what has actually taken place there, but regardless we feel the strangeness of these presences, we get the heebie-jeebies, shivers up the spine and other ethereal feelings. But we walk through the hospital, the cellar (wherever it may be) and the feeling leaves no sooner than we do. Chances are whatever has taken place there in the past has been something dark, something sinister and it is those actions and occurrences that were the doorways for the strangeness and the darkness to enter and all those actions were carried out or acted by humans.
Whether we like to admit it or not, we as individuals are 'the doors' to these manifestations and what we chose to do, to not do, to think or not to think are what gives evil and darkness the ability and power and even the right and grounding to be made manifest in this world.
I have some great testimonies of people I know personally of how these doors have been opened, and also how these were closed and who knows? I may share them in future posts. But the reassuring thing is that the ability to close these doorways and overcome any tangible or lingering evil in our homes and lives is much simpler than you might have previously believed. There may be a struggle, as evil always wants to dominate, destroy and cause pain but victory is possible because there is a greater power and that is one of love. No greater power over evil was ever shown on this earth than when Christ defeated evil on the cross.
Afterwards, he gave a mandate for us to do the same, to take the authority that He has, and to go out into the world filled with love and in the power of his Spirit and subdue the powers of Darkness by expressing His kingdom of light. The cross showed us that love is stronger even than the power of death and will always have the last word... even though horror movies would have you believe differently.