Ernie: Trauma can cause fixation in one's psyche. A person is well balanced but then, one day, tragedy strikes and the world changes for the worse.
"Normality" may be defined as one's perception of life as a mixture of good and bad, but, by and large, one muddles through and mostly the good prevails. There is reason for optimism and negative feelings, while we cannot dismiss them from our lives, never dominate personal reality. Fixation means about the same thing as obsession. Not all obsessions are bad, of course, for what is falling in love but falling into an obsession with someone of the opposite sex? However, mostly what we mean by "obsession" is morbid fixation on tragedy or the effects of tragedy. The word "morbid" is central. Sometimes an obsession is justified. Think of the Jews in the aftermath of WWII. Think of survivors of the atrocities of the Islamic State in our own time. The question for me is this: Was it Jesus' intention that we should have an obsession about his death on the cross? I would define Christian pietism as an obsession with the Passion. Would Jesus have' wanted this kind of reaction on the part of those who follow him? Or would he have wanted us to never forget but, regardless, mostly wanted us to move on and do our best to create the Kingdom of Heaven -as best we can manage, admittedly far from perfectly- here on Earth? Is Christian faith mostly about the Passion or mostly about the Resurrection? For me it is mostly -by far- about the Resurrection, about doing whatever might be possible to do something, anything, to help establish the Kingdom of Heaven. But obsession with the Passion? What good does that do? If one's focus is building the Kingdom then the focus of life is action, getting things done, seeking to achieve goals, finding purpose and meaning in work toward the objective of making the Kingdom real -in this life. Which is why I am not a pietist and never will be. "Where the spirit of the Lord is," said Paul, "there is liberty." Christian faith is -or should be- liberating. As I see it, this must mean freedom from obsessions and any other personal issues that get in the way of working toward the goal of making the Kingdom real. To say the least, there is plenty of room for interpreting what the Kingdom should look like. We weren't given a set of blueprints but an overall set of principles. Still, the idea is to build the Kingdom. This may also mean tearing down any false kingdom that is in the way. Regardless, the objective is construction, the means to do so are partly pragmatic -of necessity. But, as I see it, pietism is an obstacle to any such thing. Which is also why I am not a pietist and never will be. Building the Kingdom must also mean confronting the Devil and all his works. Hence it must mean a fighting spirit, willingness to fight and determination to win because any thought of losing the fight is hateful and unacceptable. But pietism is all about resignation and the kind of pessimism that says " nothing can be done." therefore the best alternative is sorrowful prayer. To me that is not a "good" it is its own tragedy, a counsel of hopelessness instead of hopefulness. Worse, pietism has a sort of benign purpose, forgetting the many good things, the positive and hopeful things Jesus did in his life. Pietism is Jesus without the marriage feast at Cana, without the feeding of the 5000, without the poignant episode of the woman at the well. Why on Earth would anyone want to be a pietist? Unless it is because of some trauma that has hit so deeply, so painfully, that -so far- it has been impossible to overcome. But if Jesus means liberty then it can be overcome. But first one's focus needs to be on freedom in Christ, freedom to live your life to the fullest, accepting of all one's faults and imperfections, but always moving on toward the goal of making the Kingdom real in the here and now. Christianity is about creating new life, new possibilities, and finding new insights and new ways to do what is good. It is all about action, not sorrow. It is all about adventure, about overcoming hardships, and doing your imperfect best. Why would someone want anything else? But I really don't feel like talking about this day in and day out. There are far better ways to spend my time. Billy ________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Dr. Ernie Prabhakar <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 5, 2019 3:14 AM To: Centroids Discussions Subject: [RC] When Jesus Returns We love to fantasize about what Jesus will do to our enemies when He returns to judge the earth. It is a lot less comfortable to think about what He might do to us… http://www.bluegrasslyrics.com/song/remember-the-cross/ Remember The Cross Do you think of the cross on which Jesus died Of the blood he shed for you Are you prepared to meet him in that land of love By his word are you going to abide Remember the cross on which Jesus died Follow in his footsteps each day He shed his blood for you and he shed his blood for me Never cast that cross aside Never let other people lead you astray Teach his words to them if you can They must think of that cross on which Jesus died And get ready to meet him someday When Jesus comes down from heaven above And you haven’t thought of that cross He’ll cast you aside in the twinkling of an eye And you won’t see his blessed home of love -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Google Groups<http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism> groups.google.com Google Groups allows you to create and participate in online forums and email-based groups with a rich experience for community conversations. Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org [https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/becade87f4704f1f93c3ca0278c4fda6?s=200&ts=1549395180]<http://radicalcentrism.org/> Radical Centrism | A Unifying Paradigm of Civil Society<http://radicalcentrism.org/> radicalcentrism.org A Unifying Paradigm of Civil Society --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. 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