December 23, 2013
Light of Observation
I just learned that a member of my extended
family is drinking heavily and refuses to seek medical, psychological, or
spiritual help. Because there has been a lot of alcoholism in my family I made
myself available if he wants to talk, but I then began to wonder what I might
say if given the opportunity. As I thought about how Jesus interacted with
people I realized He often convicted people by simply stating the obvious.
Examples would be, ‘You have had five husbands…, you of little faith…, you do
not have in mind the things of God…, friend, do what you came for.’ It may be
that shining the light of observation on the reality of a situation would be
more thought provoking than focusing on the individual.
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----I’ve had some experience with what you might face. It is a testy position. It is easy for a person to observe far too much of his own self without having observed enough of it. Then pondering and emoting dog-pile onto the whole mess until it collapses into an addiction of some sort.
-----How on earth could someone observe too much of his self without observing enough? Our self concept consists of three parts, seeing the way we were, seeing the way we are, and seeing the way we will be (might be.) The future is a downright scary proposition, especially if you don’t know the Lord, or do know Him yet spend little time pondering the Bible’s presentation of who, what, and how He is for you. So, fear and anger are the two most sensitive emotions because one, the other, or both are triggered by the mere sensation of having insufficient insight, understanding, or knowledge about anything deemed important. And I assure you, lots of daily things are important.
-----When we face tomorrow passively, we face something colored with yesterday’s hues and shades by today’s subconscious emoting and pondering. You would be surprised how much of a soul can go passive in life’s normal difficulties. I don’t mean “inactive” by saying passive. I mean the mind and emotions going wherever they willy-nilly stumble. Generally that is to a series of self-rationalizing images explaining either the observed negatives or positives about the self. Passively focused attention of the process can inflate one aspect or the other until there is a heavy imbalance. Moreover, those images generally begin to emerge predominantly from the haunts or pride of memories, the pains or glories of the moment, or the imagined inevitability of defeat or victory. It isn’t that our drifting consciousness takes its abode in one or the other of these temporal rooms, either in a negative heap or an elated fling, it is more that contents of one temporal room begins to define the other two when it gets an inordinate amount of observation.
-----That’s when unreality sets in. And mental unreality is the cause of our evils: drinking, drug abuse, womanizing, cursing, or simply spending all the kids’ lunch money on the hot rod. Think about it. Reality is what’s real, and what’s real is just another way of saying, “true”. Then, of course, Jesus Christ is the truth. That’s one of the most fundamental insights of God’s Word. So, having a relationship with Christ is more than having an emotionally charged phrase for repeating about the low-points of our lives. It is about truing your mind with what is. And the most real aspect of “what is” is the way God made “is” to be (regardless of the way we‘ve messed it up.) That takes mental activity, not passivity. The propriety of that activity observes all rooms of your temporal being and both natures of your character, for it must bring what you are into harmony with what the Word says and what’s going on around you.
-----It isn’t good to whack someone on the head. But I’ve noticed addicts responding to the big whack far more than this big talk. It isn’t comfortable thinking of the Holy Spirit arranging a good, hard whacking, but somehow I just think that’s part of His job. In the meantime, I think you said it: Find all the ways you can to give them the simple observation of the moment, the one pertinent to all three rooms of their soul and both sides of their character. Season it with grace, kindness, and goodness; simmer it in truth till its toughness becomes that last crispness just before it goes mushy. Then serve it with your favorite Bible blessing of the day, for instance, “I keep the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure.” (Ps 16:8-9)
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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