(In the end this post really is about Christmas … )
You may be a Nobel prize winner, you may be a dunce. Or like some I know, you could be paranoid schizophrenic, have varying degrees of Asperger syndrome, or live with a brain chemistry malfunction. Or you could be normal like me (what ever that is), with your own fair share of paranoia, prejudice and perceptual distortion. The truth is that to be normal is to be damaged; some of our features shine through, others are suppressed. The only difference between people is the degree of damage, which in our pride we use to exert power over others. What we like to call normal are really those people who are not too different to ourselves. For example, I presume members of ISIS think they are normal, yet from my perspective I think ISIS is to Islam what the KKK is to Christianity (to paraphrase Sam Seaborne). The issue is, what is my metric? By what measure do I evaluate normal, for normal can only be defined by a reference, and sadly we tend to accept the majority's definition. So if the majority are prejudiced about race then we get Apartheid; about same-sex relationships and we get homophobia; about mental or physical disabilities and we get second class citizens; about age we get ageism, and by gender we get sexism. Yet no one asks “how are we defining the reference?” For example, Marco Rubio, in an interview as candidate for the USA presidency talked of being “"the leader of the free world and the most important political figure in the greatest and most powerful nation on earth" – (http://tinyurl.com/pfqq86r). As a non-USA citizen I find this a deeply disturbing and offensive. The measure he uses is the irrational philosophy of “American Exceptionalism”. Yet, by using a different measure, say “the good Samaritan”, then many democratic socialist governments are doing a far, far better job in leading the “free world”. Self-definition of one's metric is arrogance, carries zero moral authority, and exposes one's pride. Take another example; a mentally disturbed person. I know someone who is paranoid schizophrenic; he sees the world through a drug induced lens. My Asperger acquaintances see a narrow world that obscures the nuances the rest of us “normal” people take for granted. And in turn our own “normality” works against our empathy to try to see things as others do. One might argue our normality is a disability. Yet consider this: none of us would dream of denying gravity. Because gravity pervades our lives; its not a matter of opinion, or of normality, and gravity isn't going to change to suit our opinion. 1. And so my first Christmas point (there will be three): It doesn't matter where you start from, gravity pulls us whatever and whoever and wherever and whenever you are, whether we like it or not. As one wise man said, everything is a fog, it's hard to see the next step let alone how the path winds ahead. Yet in the fog gravity still pulls us, and a compass still points true. That same man also said there's nothing new under the sun (was he prescient about blogs?). So why do we say all these things, why repeat what has been said again and again? Because we get twisted and misinterpret when it seems that the simple explanation is too simple to be true. All the while there's only one true gravity and only one true explanation. You can dispute it, make up new explanations for it, but you cannot deny its pull. 2. So to my second Christmas point. The world is seemingly scared to call this pull what it is; that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, not human beings having a spiritual experience (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin). Instead we make up rubbish. Nice sounding phrases that placate our emotions into thinking we understand life. Here's one I came across in my twitter feed: send sun shine Worship who it is you are and find peace with the person you choose to become (http://tinyurl.com/hbz6ylr) Worship who it is you are? Self-worship as a way to finding peace? Worship my imperfections? No thanks; this is like trying to make ones own gravity. Good luck with that! I recognize who I am, I know I'm not worship worthy, and it would be stupidity to worship who I am. I certainly have worth, but the totality of who I am is not worshipful. This nice sounding nonsense was recently studied under the delightful title of “On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit” - basically describing that embarrassing syndrome where people think nonsense of nice sounding babble is really deep (http://tinyurl.com/pnw5lz9 http://tinyurl.com/gpop9ao) In short, my second point is this: no matter what our state, no matter how severe our relative inadequacies, we are all undeniably subject to the same inescapable pull. We shy away from calling it what it is, because to do so is to admit we're the lesser, and are subject to another that is more powerful. 3. Finally my third point: The Christ-Christmas is history's fulcrum around which everyone's past and future is balanced. It's not about a beginning (as so many sermons like to make it), its about directions; what led to this, and where is it headed. To be strategic in life means looking back to see where I've come from, and looking forward to where I'm headed. All of history before Christ points to him. All future goes forward from him. Christ-mass celebrates this centre on which my life is balanced. And so on this day, perhaps more than any other day, I am reminded that my life, both past and future, is inescapably and continually pulled by the gravity of Christ. I don't want pseudo-profound bullshit. Truth is simple, as simple and deep as a baby. Christmas requires courage.
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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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