(this morning was Déjà vu - all the same old issues came up again)
This morning someone told me about her friends - all her many spiritual-but-non-religious party-going social circle friends who like to play at "deep" philosophy while they pretend to be on top of life - these friends don't like to go to church because, to quote, "it makes them feel dirty". It made me think about their race. It's an odd race, very much like Alice’s Caucus Race. Most people are running in parallel races with no finish line. For many its running after looks, success, wealth, fun, drugs, sex ... we know the litany, because we've all tried to sing the chorus. We understand its the common nature of this life; to invest in looking good, achieve peer-accredited success, grow wealth, have fun, experiment with drugs, hop through each other's beds. Its the same old race that's been going round in circles for centuries; no prizes, no rest, no finish until we die. Not surprisingly this same society is fixated on Oprah-type palliatives of mysticism and self-help books that focus on providing relief from the symptoms and stresses of running after who-knows-what. Palliatives work; so why not try and relieve pains with pleasures, because basically we running till we die? So here's a problem; most people running the race, if they're brutally honest, would admit that the momentary pleasures do not compensate for the persistent pressures; is my body looking good enough, what accomplishments can I crow about, and which bed is next. In reality its a race along an endless beach with beautiful views to the left and the right, and endless sand before and behind while we carefully watch each other as we pant from exertion. Any thought of stopping for a moment, or of going for a refreshing swim is quickly suppressed by the awareness "but everyone else might get further ahead." Further along where, may I ask? More sand, more beach, more sunburn, more sand rash? So these people don't like church because it makes them feel dirty? Ok, I'm not surprised given the sad way most church engagements are constructed. So now what? Well, at the very least let's genuinely empathize with the fact that people are tired, people are troubled, and people feel a pain even though all the make-up and clothing and gym time and job achievements might cover it up nicely thank you very much. That solution does not begin with going to church, it begins with the people who also happen to go to church. It begins with the individuals who are running a race that is not parallel to everyone else. In fact, these people are running a completely different race; its a race that is orthogonal - at right angles to the rest of the world - a race with a finish line, a race that runs straight into the ocean. Some have got wet their feet, some are in it up to their shins, some are to their chests, and some are swimming strongly. It doesn't matter where they are in this race, it matters only which race they are in. But these runners ... the ones running into the ocean ... well, many of them don't recognize that they're running straight through the crowds of Alice's caucus race. Instead a triumvirate of idols (place, past, and programme) seems to undermine their ability to recognize these words: "Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, non-religious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ--but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message [about the different race]." If you're one who doesn't like church because it makes you feel dirty, you have my deepest sympathies, because I agree that for many its a discomforting place even at the best of times. Yet if I meet you somewhere else, can we talk about what's behind all that? And if you meet someone running the same race I'm in, why don't you talk to them about alternatives to this endless quicksand you're running on before you fall flat on your face.
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Why?
Probably the best therapy is to express yourself. Why do you think psychiatrists make you lie on the couch and talk, while all they do is murmur "hmmm", "uhuh", or "go on"? Archives
May 2017
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