Becoming Human

Can you remain human in a rigid thought system?  I would say that it makes it much more difficult and, at the very least, it stunts your spiritual growth.  I believe it is important to understand this because everything “evil” is connected to dehumanization in some form or manner.

It seems to me the hallmark of such a system is being stuck in an adolescent or even pre-adolescent stage of development where immaturity and insecurity demand things be either black or white.  When things begin to bleed into grayishness anxiety arises and can be seen as an existential threat rather than what it really is: growing pains.  It is the process of coming into the realness-of-what-is which isn’t mindful of our biases, feelings, or skewed psychological needs.

The good news, in my estimation, is that reality bends the arc of suffering towards healing and that love underlies it all.  If you touch a hot stove it will burn you.  If you drink bleach it will make you sick.  If we become aware of how unhealthy certain things are we have the opportunity to choose differently and grow.

So, that is the challenge.  Begin with some reflection in a kind of humble self-appraisal, not assuming you are right but understanding that you are broken and in need of healing.  If you can begin to peek behind this curtain it becomes possible to bring others along side and say “Look back here!  What do you see?”  It is a shared journey we are all on after all.

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