Love – that capacity which enables him to grasp the other human being in his very uniqueness Conscience – that capacity which empowers him to grasp the meaning of a situation in its very uniqueness. Both are intuitive capacities. The uniqueness envisaged by love refers to the unique possibilities the loved person may have – – – the uniqueness envisaged by conscience refers to a unique necessity, to a unique need one may have to meet. Vicktor Frankl Frankl has discovered something very interesting about love. He calls it a capacity or an ability to absorb, finding its fulfillment by tenderly embracing another human being in their very one-of-a-kindness. Frankl goes on to say that this one-of-a-kindness, envisioned by love, refers to the special potentials the loved person may have. We could say then that love always “identifies” with another. Frankel also mentions the conscience. It, too, owns capacity…
Category: <span>Suffering</span>
I knew a man in Christ, a father, a friend, a counselor, mentor and inspiration. I knew a man in Christ, he taught me how to think, how to live, how to die. He taught me the Bible, removing all gray areas; preciseness was his forte, accuracy his norm. He taught dogmatically, leaving no room for doubt; exposing the foolishness of inferior systems. Yes, I knew this man in Christ. When my pastor spoke, there was an anointing, clear, distinct, heavenly, penetrating. Sometimes came tears, sometimes a display of authority. Often the message pin-pointed the exact issue of my current experience. I sensed the ministry tuned into me, to me personally — adjusting my thinking, feeling, and conscience. I was a part of it, my listening perpetuated it, my heart embraced it, my soul bathed in it. Many times, I wept. I sensed something very deep happening — A healing, deliverance,…
There is a song sung by Francisco Ortega called “Now that you’re Gone.” It’s a song about a brother lost, and of a mourning sibling; the world spins without meaning, now that he is gone. Spins without meaning, has this happened to you? It is amazing, how one’s worldview, one’s value system, forsake their meaning–providing function and betray our trust. It’s as if a mean trick has manipulated us, or has been fooling us all along. It wounds us, it strikes down our high place of safety and repose. It sabotages in a moment what has been built over many years perhaps. We spin, and spin. An essential element, a vital piece of the puzzle, an every day visitor suddenly is missing, and we have no answers. We turn to God. But shockingly we find this event has no prior reference in our conceptualized view of God. Our phony world…
…… external constraints may be used upon man’s freedom of choice, which makes impossible it’s being carried into effect outwardly; … only God could exercise an inward constraint which would compel man to do that which, in the moment of doing it, is not his own will; and God does not use this power: Delitzsch The Psalmist prayed: “out of the depths I cry unto thee O Lord”. To what refer these depths? The unconscious mind perhaps fits this? In the unconscious mind “Absolutes” die. Absolutes are certainties. So nothing certain and everything random jellifies in the unconscious, because the whole mess marinates in double-mindedness. O, there are still “absolutes” (small a). These are half-truths which deceive the mind into thinking all is well. These little unquestionable (life according to George) concepts, exalt some to the center of their universe in deception. Let’s consider this; a guy builds a real…
Folks refuse surrender. As I achieved a physique and acquired an attitude, a determination attended me; “Tom, never give in.” Post–high school wanderings brought a war; a war with everyone and everything. The main target: any representation of the establishment. Secondary targets? It really didn’t matter, I opposed every truth representing antagonist. Attitude is everything! I wanted to grow my hair, as all the nonconformists did in my day and this meant moving out as kicked, because long hair didn’t fly in our house. I had learned how to smoke dad’s Pall Malls and developed it into dope smoking. Alcohol fetched comfort. I loved the feelings and freed inhibitions. Music serenaded my nodding and determined my weekend’s prowling, as girls also became a perpetual focus. I was a self-made man, Hardy har har. Steel mill introduced a Wonderland to us uninitiated. Mill reminded me of a Day-Glo poster; only without…
We find with Jacob’s story his challenge of handling his own value fluctuations —secondly, his forming of deep personal convictions. We find this even more than with the stories of Abraham and Isaac. Another way of saying it is; he was made to stand, in the midst of circumstances and relationships, while these pressed against his inward citadel, gradually forcing a determined-fight mentality in Jacob. He fought the war between belief and unbelief. For healing, Jacob gives us, uncensored, stark reality in living color. We have looked at the fallen nature of man worked in, now we look at the “reversing” plan of God; and it too, chiseled into a soul. Jacob’s adverse challenges arose from a flight of fear. Brother Esau had threatened to kill him, leading to a miserable tenure under uncle Laban. So, he is made to deal with his own insecurity and the deceit of Laban…
“…and that they were afraid was the essential consequence of the fact that they retrograded from Gods love and had therefore incurred Gods wrath.” Franz Delitzsch Conscience “a knowing together with God” awakens the terriblest. Every gritty body nerve, and every psychic sinew, in denial, dreads the dawning of conscience. It arrives as a wake up call on the level of a freight-train. It whisks us away into a clawing-out mode of life. Flat-out life-loathing attends it. We’re hijacked into bustle’s whims, all of which we vowed, would get consideration when hell freezes over. But no; we’re head-over-heels right now, hot-footed feet blazing. “My life slipped way out of sync, my true-blue supporters turned out miserable liars.” “Woe is me, I am undone, a man of unclean lips.” “Thou Art the Man.” cried Nathan” Conscience: confronts the willful infant coddle and screams “get the ‘h’ off your…
So much of adolescence is an ill-defined dying, an intolerable waiting, a longing for another place and time, another condition. Theodore Roelhke Adolescence lives for experimentation, whether we like It or not. An in-between time, the age in which Abraham lived moves from childhood-identity to a trial and error of proving. Clinging to a hope of landing in a solid way, it seeks a not yet known ideal. Many Christian thinkers disagree with the term “adolescent;” however most would agree we don’t just jump from childhood to adulthood. How does this relate to soul healing? Let us start with unconditional love. Unconditional love reigns extreme, radical, and stands a direct contrast to the best love man can work up. Let’s not water down what it means. If we give our thoughts to meditating on it, we determine the best effort of love a human can make purposes loving,…
Coal, grease, and broken chain, on this stoker Darkness creates poverty, just as surely as light creates vitality. The big “D” likes to penetrate a life by creating a deep divide away from true life and light, and then providing a “light” of its own origin, a kind of dark-light. With this, darkness pretends true light, to create in a man a deceptive existence. Consequently, with this empty-light filling in, a person may not figure it out; they are not experiencing the true light, but a vacuum instead. So, what gives? Well, darkness, a false light, keeps a person aloof from the healthy vitamin “d” produced of true light, if we take the natural analogy to start. Secondly, life-killers like mold and fungus grow in this dark, giving us the picture of decay in a soul. See, the darkened soul, slowly dying, has the false impression of being lightened as…