The World is a Vampire
Let's Drive a Stake Through It
“The world is a vampire…
sent to drain.” (Billy Corgan)
This line from the Smashing Pumpkins song Bullet With Butterfly Wings (one of the greatest song openings ever) announces the existential nature of the song. But I also think it has a similar sentiment in Ephesians.
“But remember, we are not fighting against human beings. Our battle is against the evil rulers, the dark powers, and the spiritual forces of the spirit-world above and around us.” (Eph 6:12 FNV)
This statement from Ephesians is like Billy Corgan’s because it describes the systems of the world which drain the flourishing of life. When I hear the opening refrain of Bullet With Butterfly Wings Ephesians comes to mind. The systems of the world harm, they suck the life out of humanity. Those systems are vampires that can diminish, devalue, and destroy human beings. We may not realize the systems do that, but we have the warning that we are not up against our fellow humans (we are all image bearers after all). We are up against the powers, the systems, the oppressive frameworks of the world that destroy.
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It is all too easy to accept the work of the systems of the world in a fatalistic surrender. But why should we? In fact, Paul deals with this temptation in the Second Letter to the Corinthian church when he speaks of a thorn in his side. Paul asks for it to be removed, but it is not. The existential chorus of Bullet brings to mind Paul’s thorn, but Corgan leans into determinism. But I suspect it is a commentary on the systems of the world being vampires that pursue us. “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.” We can also see how our participation, often forced, in those systems can make us feel like rats stuck in a cage. We do the daily grind to exist and then that grind pummels us, or in Corgan’s example, drains us. But we do not need to be rats in a cage.
We can, instead, work for the flourishing of creation. It may take some heavy imagination and heavy lifting, but there is hope. This is the radical hope present in the love of a God who is transcendently immanent. Rather than creatures stuck in a cage being led back and forth through a predetermined puzzle, we are invited to take part in the work of new creation. We are invited to take part in the action of binging change, justice, and new pathways of life.
While we are invited into a new creation, the vampiric world still exists as an old creation. The systems that suck the joy, beauty, and possibilities out of life are vampires. We cannot help being within those systems, but we can work to change them. We can break out of the cages and forge a path away from the puzzles and mazes to drive a stake through the heart of old creation, helping usher in new creation and the beautiful Kindom of God.
Where the world creates a maze of predetermined paths designed to benefit itself, God opens possibility upon possibility in an unknown future. While those predetermined paths may feel comfortable and safe, they are the very mechanism that makes the world a vampire. The invitation to new creation contains a promise of unknowns, but they are unknowns that have the possibility of flourishing, not possible in the old creation paths. Are the open paths easy? Not always, but they definitely are not paths that bore us and drain our life while being crushed in the gears of the progress of the world. The open paths lead away from vampires, hatred, and stagnation.
Where would you rather be? Walking in a predictable and comfortable path that leads to darkness; or an unpredictable and open invitation to take part in remaking the world? I know which one I want to follow. Maybe think about joining me.
I have an essay in a new book that John Cobb says the publication of is “an important moment in the history of American Protestant theology. It offers the opportunity to see how thinkers, specifically preachers, who are truly committed to process theology seek to influence the life of the churches where they work. People new to this discussion will get a feel of what it would be like to be part of a Christian community guided by process theology.”
This is a practical and accessible collection of sermons, essays, and worship aids from a vast array of Christian traditions.
Pretty sick to contribute to a book edited by Tom and with a forward written by Cobb 🤘🏼
Thanks for your contribution to the book!