Upon further reflection, contemplation, and response to your comments, there seem to be a much deeper level of WSDs than we touched on in the initial article. These WSDs are far more serious and have far reaching consequence. For your sober consideration then… —
- Pretending— putting on a façade, playing a role, as if you were in a stage play. Whether this is a façade of faith or the sham of success, it remains, nonetheless, a pretension of life that prevents you from becoming the man/woman God intends you to be.
- Believing yourself to be someone you are not. This goes a step beyond #1; for it is not a pretension— it is a delusion, a self-deception that you come to believe as true which is not true. This kind of reality-fantasy, if allowed to continue, can cause a disruption between grasping what is real and what is un-real.
- Ignoring observations— Being part of community is essential to lead a life with unambiguous perspective. We all need the commentary, critiques, and compliments of others to gain a clearer understanding of who we are and how we fit into the whole. Balance. Otherwise, we will most naturally grow a higher opinion of ourselves than is deserved.
- Embitterment— Harboring resentment for wrongs done to you in the past will devour your spirit, your relationships, and your joy. Personally, the hardest thing I live with is the lack of resolution in relationships. Some, I still live with…, but not with any sense of contentment. Learn to let go.
- Fear— What is it that chains your soul to the floor and keeps you from trusting ? Trusting yourself, your skills and abilities, trusting those around you, those you work with…, God? Fear is the great destroyer of hearts, the dungeon of the mind, and the dehydrator of the spirit. I do not treat this WSD lightly; but I know full-well that unless you face your fears directly you will remain trapped within them.
- Insignificance— If, in your mind, you are not making a difference, you are not important to anyone, anywhere, and you believe your life is of little to no value to anyone, then you will eventually evaporate into emptiness— a blank page in the history of family and society. If you believe this, then you are truly out of touch with real-reality. NO ONE is insignificant!
- Loss of faith— No belief in anything. This naturally (eventually) leads to cynicism, depression, and an extreme sullenness about life.
- Living life as if there were no God— Of all the weapons of self-destruction this one (to be sure, there are more) is the most destructive. Faith is, well, a matter of faith, based on belief in historical reporting and accurate recording of events; it is also the response to those compiled coincidences in your life that point to some divine intervention, whether you like it or not. Some people believe there is no god; but it is wiser to live life as if there were, with all the blessings and consequences that belief entails.
- Living without relationships— A life of isolation will be a brief one. If you want to destroy your soul drop out of community and tell yourself you can make it on your own…, alone. You are already dead.
- Deciding not–to-love— Whether because of an earlier broken heart or betrayal, or a fear of being hurt again, deciding not to love will also destroy your soul. If you are incapable of loving you will most inadvertently become unable to receive love as well. What then is your life but the production of things.
May this list of WSDs encourage you to eliminate them all from your life.
Have a nice week.
Gary
Clueless Christianity 