The Trickster, the Deceiver, the Anti Christ, Satan goes
by many names but his goal is always the same: to
shake our faith in what is right and what is wrong and to
lead us down the road of damnation and separation
from God for all time.
The Trickster is one of the hardest of Satan’s disguises
to recognize. Thinking you are doing the right thing, he
spins his web of deceit. For example, as we walk down
the path of life, we know the path to righteousness
follows the path laid out by God as described in the
Bible.* Yet, the Trickster can step in, diverting your
attention to other people — by accusing them, he can
lead you to focus on condemning them. He has then
gained a foothold in your soul and leads you out of love
and into a judgment that is only for the Lord to make.
When we make an agreement with him, The Trickster
hides in the dark places of our soul, waiting for the
opportune moment to start directing our actions down
the path he chooses. All the while we are thinking we
are on the right path, because somehow he has gotten
us to justify our actions as being the right thing to do or
as an acceptable action. Our only defense is to fill our
souls with God’s light and eliminate the “Dark Corner’s”
for the Trickster to hide in.
It really isn’t that far from what we see in cartoons as
kids where someone is having a moral dilemma as to
what to do in a particular situation and an Angel appears
on one shoulder and the Devil appears on the other
shoulder. They both plead their case as to which action
is the right course to take. Although we don’t really see
them, they are there. We have choices to make every
day and for EVERY choice, no matter how small it

seems at the time, we choose which path to take.
Keeping God’s words close to our hearts makes these
decisions easier.
We see every day in the news how a murder/suicide has
taken a whole family. Yet all of the friends and
neighbors never see it coming. The reports always say
“They were a happy and normal family.” And yet they
are now all dead and everyone wonders why. I believe
the Trickster had worked his way into the killer’s sense
of reasoning and disguised himself as the voice of God.
Making the person think it was the only solution to what
ever issue they were facing.
The reports from the murderers’ usually say the person
“heard a voice.” Or that their deadly actions seemed to
them as "normal as doing the laundry". There is seldom
any remorse and in some cases the killer can’t figure
out why they are being punished for doing what they
thought was the right thing to do.
The solution seems clear to me. The more we
recognize the true word of God and understand the “Big
Picture” of His plans for us, then the easier the Trickster
is to recognize.
In closing, remember we are only here to take care of all
of the wonders God has created, including loving each
other. So anytime you are faced with a choice that can
result in the harm of someone else, follow God’s light
instead.