I have come to the understanding that vampires do exist. You see, I work among them. Popular fantasy would have you believe that vampires are beautiful creatures that just happen to suck the blood from people. Although a few are still portrayed as evil, most are portrayed as very attractive, alluring, exciting creatures. Well the truth of the matter is rather boring, the truth of the matter is that vampires look just like you and me. As a matter of fact you might be one. Or you may be only a part time vampire, or one that dallies in the art from time to time. Vampires are not interested in your blood as popular folk lore would suggest, instead they seek to suck life from you, to leech joy from everyone around them, they magnify all that is wrong with the world and they tend to begin with the very small things that most of us don't even bother to get riled up about.
I think it's safe to say that everyone has had their vampire moments. Sadly some people live there all the time.
The vampires that I have to co-exist with, seek to sow discord, they are highly dissatisfied with everything, they complain and they seek others to join in with their complaints, and they question everything, they scream unfair at the top of their voices when asked to perform some task they are paid to perform. One can walk into work singing a song, and they will do their very best to have you muttering curses upon exit. They are the sort of people who do not see their glass as full, nor half full, in fact they have no glass at all. They can walk through the gates, past the greenest grass, heedless of the singing birds, unaware of the bright blue sky, they see nothing good at all in anything. The reek of bitterness and gall, and they abhor happiness of any kind. They will attack the weak like a pack of coyotes upon an injured cat. The more the injured one seeks to defend itself, the more brutal the attack. They do not cease until the joyful one is either in tears or raging anger.
I ponder often how this can be, how can folks live such joyless negative lives? I wonder if they ever laugh? Do they ever have conversations about positive things? Is there anything right going on in their lives. I wonder how they came to be the way they are.............and then He speaks to my heart, He shows me my lack of patience in traffic, the times I complain, He shows me my "if only's" and "what if's". He reminds me of the things I have thought, the judgements I have made, not in the past, but this very day, and I realize that apart from Him, it is highly possible that I too could be a vampire. In fact, in some moments I have been one. I have sucked the joy from someone by the manner in which I responded to them, I have made jabs at things I disagree with, subtlety undermining, I have complained, I have griped. Although it has many years since it was to the extent that the full fledged grown up vampire does, it puts me on that path. A path my heart does not want to walk upon, but my flesh often does.
Thankfulness and praise are the antidote to becoming a vampire. The one who gives thanks in all things does not fall into vampire ways, the one who lifts praise to the Most High does not suck life from others, but instead infuses life.
Compassion and love are needed to defeat the full fledged vampire, if your heart is filled with compassion and your soul overflowing with love, the negativity tossed out by the vampire, the "teeth" they use to suck joy from your soul, are rendered impotent. Do not give in to anger, but instead be guided by wisdom.
Don't be a vampire. Sow peace when at all possible, keep a calm mind, speak only that which edifies or corrects with compassion. Be thankful for all that you have. Praise God for His grace and mercy toward you. Ask Him to search your heart and reveal any vampire tendencies hidden there.......And pray for the vampires.
Popular fantasy got one thing right, if you want to defeat a vampire, you need the cross. By doing as our Lord commanded, we lift the cross up, and nothing can stand against it. If you are in a negative mood, if you are sucking the joy from everyone around you, try singing some hymns, try giving thanks for all that you have, try praising God for who He is and what He has done for you. You will find the vampire traits flee. If it is someone else sucking the joy, try praying for them, try talking to them with care and compassion. If you allow the Jesus to shine forth out of you, the vampire will flee. And if you find one that simply will not go away.....ask God what it is He is trying to teach you by allowing this joy sucker to be in your life.
It would seem that I am not the only one who has pondered the joy sucking vampires. I found a blog post about it (link to full blog at bottom of post). Although I probably will not be burning my vampires, and most of mine are simply not ones I can walk away from, I did like very much the descriptive manner in which this blogger refers to joy vampires.
"If I’m going to live that life (spreading joy) , I have to guard my positive energy. If I allow Joy Vampires in, I won’t be able to do it. And I’m not just talking about them being in my life physically, I’m talking about allowing them space in my head as well -- that is where they are most stealth. Vampires you haven’t seen in twenty years could still be sucking your life’s blood simply through your thoughts. I have a personal remedy for ridding myself of vampires, and its simple, really. I release them. I’ve held vampires captive in my head through my own anger -- an anger that sunk its hooks in and wouldn’t budge. But here is the garlic, the stake through the heart, the silver bullet that finally worked: I wished them peace, healing, and I let them go. I also added a ritual, because I’m a concrete thinker, and like to do something physically to make clear what I’m doing. I write the vampires names on a piece of paper. I hold the paper in against my heart and say a loving prayer, letting them go. Then I burn the paper in my fireplace, and watch the wisps of smoke go upward, out the chimney, away from me.
“I wish you peace, I wish you peace…” I say until the smoke is gone.
I need to do this from time to time, because, as I said, vampires are stealth. They’ll sneak in through an open window, riding on the tails of anger, through a crack in my armor. And once again, with love and peace, I send them packing. " So tomorrow I will again go forth and deal with vampires, my desire is to lift up the cross and defeat the joy suckers. I pray the vampire I contend with tomorrow is not me.
"But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!"
"Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life."
"judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:"
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it [are] the issues of life."
http://northridge.patch.com/groups/hollye-dexters-blog/p/bp--beware-the-joy-vampires
