From the Beginning

Lenten Meditation for March 23, 2026

And what can be said of the sons of the Devil? Who are they, what are they, how shall we know them?

Saint John tells us that those who were given power “to become Sons of God” were those “who received Him, and believed in His Name.” And that they were not “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

As we are given the preconditions for becoming sons of God-- for transcending this life and ascending to Divinity-- so too we are given a way to identify the sons of the Devil. They are born “of blood,” or “of the will of the flesh,” or of “the will of man.”

What do those things mean?

As is ever the case, there is much to be said, more than can be contained in a blog post, but we can make a start, at least.

Let us begin with Blood. Modern Western societies are unique in how little we value parentage, heredity, and kinship. Our elevation of the individual and his (or her) merit can blind us to the reality of just how important blood ties are in most of the world. I’m saying “Western,” but even that is painting with too broad a brush-- even among Americans, there are many regional or ethnic subcultures who value kin or clan ties far more than the suburban Middle Class tends to realize. (Spend time in Appalachia if you don’t believe me.)

Those born of “blood” can be thought of-- we can think of them-- as those born into family, clan, lineage, tradition. Their bond is duty; they are governed by the obligations into which they are born. What these obligations are vary between cultures. One might be matrilineal, another patrilineal; one may honor the mother as the official or unacknowledged head of the family, while another treats women as serfs. Whatever the case may be, the point is that for humans the world over the obligations of family, tradition, and custom bind many people and govern their actions in this life.

Others are born of the Will of the Flesh. Perhaps this is many of us, or all of us, at least some of the time. Food, drink, sex, money, pleasure, wealth-- many are seduced by these things, and devote their lives and their energy to their service.

What is it to be born of the Will of Man? Here, I think, we encounter those who seek power and status, who strive to achieve in any field, from war to science to art to priestcraft, for the power that it gives them over others.

Every man and every woman is born with a certain energy and a certain power of striving. The question which governs our lives is: To what end do we direct this power? One man becomes a doctor, to make his mother happy. It’s hard work, he strives, he learns, he succeeds. Another doesn’t care what his mother thinks; he becomes a drunk and a lecher, and enjoys every minute of it until he dies prematurely. A third turns his energy toward politics or industry, and he strives and conquers and succeeds, until all the world knows his name.

All of these have directed their inborn energy toward human ends, earthly ends, and they reap earthly rewards. At the end, the dutiful son is mourned by his family; the rake is mourned by his drinking buddies (and whatever of his lovers still remember him); the politician is mourned by his clients and cursed by his enemies. None have transcended this world; all, after a time in the space In Between, will return to it.

In the ancient writings we read of the Sublunar Demiurge, the Creator of this world of time and change, matter and death. And he is a liar, because nothing which is seen in this world is lasting; everything is transitory, passing, false. And a murderer, because everything in this world feeds on death, and only by death can life come again here.

This is the Devil: The God of This World. This world, mind; not the Whole. When we turn toward the passing things of this world and become bound to it, we become sons of the Devil. Rejecting these temporal things, turning our gaze upward, opening to the descending Power of the Divine, we may yet become sons of God-- even you, and even me.