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Get Behind Me, Shoulder Devil

My kiddos are huge Studio C fans.  Our Monday night Family Home Evening schedule is pretty strict, to make sure that we are all ready to watch Studio C at 8:00.  It's fun, clean humor, which I really appreciate.  Recently, though, it had more than just a humorous application for my family.

One of my daughters has a particularly difficult time controlling her temper.  She is extremely sensitive, and very spiritually mature, but get her in a bad mood and none of that matters.  I try to calm her to the point that she can make better decisions, but when she is mad, she seems determined to stay that way.  She expresses a desire to not feel so out of control (when she is in a contrite state of mind), but how to help her with that has been somewhat of a mystery to me and my husband as we try to love and teach her.  Finally, my husband expressed that perhaps she is more than just sensitive to THE Spirit, maybe she is sensitive to all manner of spirits.

I had had the same thought.  This girl is strong.  She is powerful.  She has a faith that is unusual for a child her age.  How to help her put off these negative emotions?


Enter Studio C and the Shoulder Devil.

I asked my sweet daughter if she ever felt like there was someone trying to persuade her to do wrong or feel badly. She answered that she did.  I then reminded her of the Shoulder Devil skits, and told her that these menacing emotions were like the Shoulder Devil.  Most importantly, she could identify them and command them to leave.  We have worked to identify these spirits by name--the spirit of contention, of belligerence, of vitriol, of discouragement, of rancor--and then she commands them to leave her in the name of Jesus Christ.  When she does this, her countenance changes immediately. She feels great relief, and is once again in control of herself and her actions.

Another blogger I know of, Tamara Laing, writes about "chasing darkness," and how it has helped her daughter.  Her Mental Health First Aid page talks specifically of this, and contains helpful tools she has used to help her family members (it also describes some of the other tools that have been helpful to me and my family).  Her book, Healing Arts, has been especially helpful to me in understanding energy healing from an LDS perspective. Get more information about Tamara's book here.


Comments

  1. I love how you write and your insights. So glad that Rachel is doing better with this.

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