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| Woods and Snow |
“That men were ashamed, was the
essential consequence of the fact that their glory; that clothing of honor of
their body had been perverted into the shame of nakedness… Franz Delitzsch
So
far, (in this book), we have reviewed an abstract on hair-raising
trauma, a treatise of the ego, and a true to life tale about how the
downward drag of religion started the negative ball rolling in my young
life. What do these three very different thoughts imply? Where do they
overlap? Do you relate at all to the parts, or whole?
I actually
asked myself a similar question; what is a very real similarity in it
all? The striking point of cohesion is written in one word: shame. Shame
and awareness of inadequacy, awareness of a need for more, a groping to
reach for something not yet there, and the thing that brings a blush,
and the like, founds this entire effort.
Shame,
shame, shame: that indefinable self-hesitancy, and lack of fortitude,
and unsure-ness, feelings of hopelessness and even doom, nears it.
Deeper than guilt, it is so innately attached to a person as to
penetrate through every attempt to cover it. If shame is successfully
masked, a person is no longer a person, and has become a mere automaton.
Shame keeps a person clothed in public, thank you Lord.
The
enigmatic trials again bear it up, the ego finds its place of
usefulness because of it, and the youthful religious-confession
experiences dig it up.
If
we look at a life from formative beginnings, shame is there. If we look
at our experiences along the way of life, shame appears here also.
Finally, if we examine our thinking patterns, we may find they are born
in, guess what? Yes, shame.
Shame
is what? Shame won’t let me go, won’t let me run, and won’t let me
continue without making some kind of decision about it. It nags, it
shows up at the wrong time, it embarrasses, and doesn’t apologize. It
clings to me like dirt, and annoys the snot out of me. All that I do to
erase it, compounds it. It is never satisfied and to kill it is like
killing a little child. Shame is sometimes sweet, and is, after all, a
ready excuse, which I can’t consciously discard.
So
what is shame? Imperfection, an in-turning mechanism, a feeling that
what I have just done was somehow wrong, it clings to the conscience. It
makes things less than their desired value and puts certain wonderful
ideas off limits. It restricts me all kinds of ways. It nullifies honor,
stifles grace, hampers dignity, gives no credit, burns a reputation and
generally keeps me aloof of comfort.
We
must rid the shame from us? —problem, how? Ego, with it’s
conscience-ignoring methods, becomes our best and only seeming hope of
stopping shame and this begins a messy complication for a life. Shame
awareness happens at a young age, trauma reinforces it, and its dreadful
path happens unconsciously to most.
Thankfully,there
are also real solutions, and stopping shame’s river is the goal of this
book; the bigger dilemma here; the true way hides from us as quickly as
the false way steps out of hiding. With God’s help, however, truth can
be opened up.
“He
will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His
righteousness.” Micah 7:8-9. Then what happens? We are changed into the
self same image, 2 Corinthians 3:18. But what do we see?
God
glorified, in a man, accepting my blame, absorbing my shame, taking on
my liability, in a total compassionate empathy with me, a man, taking
full responsibility for me with my sinful endowments and bents, just as
if I and He were one person —I must stop, wait and watch!
He creates
the humble side of me, the accepting side, the meek lamb-like side,
which side doesn’t fight, but childishly, even appearing foolishly,
postures innocent-like even unto death.
Shame,
yes, shame is not in Him, and His image revealed in me makes me without
shame also. I and He are one in Him, a real and true escape from me and
myself, all overshadowing, like light killing darkness, anything
resembling guilt or shame.
A supernatural shame eradication, delivers me into an un-inhibited, undisgraced, unembarrassed, un-dishonored,
straight forward person with two savors. One is of death, and the other
of Life, capital L. Life of this kind dignifies, honors, and validates mere men, under the heading of His breathtaking mercy, amen.