“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
― C.S. Lewis, On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature
SONG OF SOLOMON 1-3
5Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires. (3:5)
2 CORINTHIANS 12
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
As human beings...there are certain struggles we have. Because of the complexity of our brains and our ability to create, reason, analyze, plan etc we have enormous abilities. These abilities however sometimes become confused with basic emotions and modes of survival.JOURNAL
In my own life I have forced things I didn't need to force. I have run from things I really needed to face. I have lashed out when I needed to calmly assess. I have smoothed over when I needed to confront. I have hated when I needed to love. I have been stubborn when I needed to forgive.
Most all of these errors in behavior and judgement came out of misunderstood fear and anxiety. They actually came out of an immature childish response to adult problems. I learned at Onsite last year that these patterns of behavior are established when we are young and we will automatically resort to them unless we can recognize them...calm the emotions and then reason through the better response.
However there are really good things about the childish part of us...the wonder of learning, the purity of love and the freedom to own thoughts and emotions. What needs nurturing is the wounded child inside that is fearful to actually be a child and embrace all the wonders that entails. Jesus tells us to come to him as children.
God is my key to becoming calm and then reasoning through the better response. God is my constant, it is where I can go to calm the anxiety and fear and be affirmed of my abilities and talents. God is where I can go to heal the wounds of childhood and emerge, wiser, fresher and with the openness to see all the blessings of my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment