The Beast and The Man
By Michael E. Dalton
This is a story of one man, and all people as a whole. The Man was born into this world as all of us are. He has the innocence of infancy with only the stain of original .sin. "But that is a story best left to theologians and philosophers". When the Man was born, watching his birth was the Beast, and his cohorts. Waiting for the time to visit the baby who would become a man. But given the nature of the Beast it will not wait very long, its mission has already begun.
The Beast has many faces and it can distort the man's perception even as a child. When the man is young his mind is pure and simple. There is no animosity in the Man's heart when he is a child, no black or white gay or straight. Alcoholics, addicts and' murderers (just to name a few) are the tools of the beast. See the beast has to enlist the help of others to take the man while he is still a child. It can start with parents telling the child one race is better than another. It can start in the schools when his peers tell him, that it's ok to drink, drug and skip school. These are a few of the ways the Beast takes the man while he is still a child.
Now the Beast has his hands on the child's shoulder and walks with him into manhood. The Beast will consume the Man for a period of time. Therefore, the child becomes a man who is full of hate. He hates his life and doesn't know why. He hates all who are not like him.
He even hates God. At this juncture the Beast has the Man in a death grip and will not let go. He's pulling him deeper and deeper to a point of no return.
The Man begins to target his anger to those closest to him. People say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but when you look into the eyes of the man, you see nothing. In the man's eyes there is only a cold, black, darkness, devoid of love, compassion and self worth. The values that that give our lives meaning hope and some happiness are feelings that the Man does not have.
So the downward spiral continues; taking the Man further into the domain of the beast .It is here where chaos rules. Chaos is one of the Beast's many tools directed at the Man. Now the Man descends into the very bowels of the Beast. When he gets here he tries to escape what he has become. The man has traded his life for alcohol and drugs He sees these mind-altering chemicals as a solution to all that is wrong with him and his world. However, these too turn on him, and he found himself in a place where, a needle in the arm, and stem in the mouth was commonplace. Even a pistol with the hammer cocked, (pointed at head of another human being), was all right.
The Man was now in the sordid underbelly of the Beast. He no longer lived he merely existed, but where did he exist? Now, the Man starts each day the same, as before, with a diabolical plan to rob someone or kill if he must. He hasn't he killed to date, but the propensity to do so is there.
The man can find no peace. He has resigned himself to the idea that is how he will die. He tries to end it all, by taking an overdose and slicing his wrist, but to no avail. The Man wants the sting of death. He feels it is his only refuge. . In death, he hopes to find solace from a life lived in hell. His is a life wasted a life without purpose or meaning. For a brief moment, the Man feels genuinely contrite for the way he lived his life.
The Beast the Beast had other ideas. It would not let go of the Man that easily. For that is not in the nature of a beast. "You will not die by your own hand, but by mine the Beast told the Man." The Beast rode the Man harder than ever, taking him ever deeper into a hell from which there seemed to be no escape.
The Man, however, had a moment of clarity. He reflected on his past and saw his errors and flaws; his fears his prejudices. He hears there is a way out of this reprehensible way of life. without taking his own life. He hears he can escape the death the beast had in store for him.
The Man does not know where to start. It's not easy getting away from the Beast, because the Beast accompanies the Man (and all of us) all the time in one form or another. The most common appearance of the Beast is hate for others, e.g. hate fueled by a person's race, religion or sexual orientation. There is also self-hate, and hate of those not like us. Feelings of hopelessness are also a shape in which the Beast can appear. This hopelessness was the vice that opened the door to the world the Man lived in.
The Man became determined to get out of the world of the Beast. He became willing to do whatever it took to bring about this change in his life. He prayed to the God he once hated to help him change. The God he once hated heard him, and guided him to a place of help.
The Man found he had to do some work himself. He had to follow the directions of the caregivers sent to help him. He had to work hard to fill that void, where the beast once lived. The first thing he needed to do was to find love and forgiveness for himself. That was not easy, but he did it. When he did that he started to love others. The Man could feel the void being filled with something new and wonderful. He grew stronger in his new way of life. His strength showed in his walk, talk and actions.
The day came when The Man needed this newfound strength. At every turn the old Beast called. The Beast threw all manner of temptations and deceit at the Man, The man stood strong with the help of God and others. Even today the Man is living strong and courageous. The Man is growing in mind, body and spirit.
Be warned, the Beast is insidious and ever vigilant. It waits for the opportune time to implement tools of destruction into the lives of mankind. The good news is when the Beast appears, we can call upon our renewed minds and renewed spirits and assert positive actions. Positive action defeats that mean-spirited Beast.
Now the man knows that he is not perfect. He knows that he will fall short from time to time, but when that happens, the Man doesn't stay in a hopeless and defeated state of mind. Now, one day at a time, the Man controls the Beast. The Beast no longer controls the Man.