The question which continues to arrest me on a daily basis is one which seems to dominate the lives of many, “How do people become whole?” If you doubt the significance of this question or the frequency with which the question is asked, then I suggest you consider the implications of the following statistics, which come from the insightful book, Affluenza.
As the authors of Affluenza point out, despite our consumerism, and the perks of the American dream, clinical depression is up ten fold since 1945. A full 50% of Americans, in fact, suffer from depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues each year. Millions are on Prozac or similar drugs, and anti-depressant use is up three fold in the last decade. So, I ask, are we a whole people? In a society in which pleasure abounds, entertainment is endless, and sex seems to be a never ending, no holds barred thrill zone for any person desiring any thing imaginable…why so much misery?
This entire week will be spent on this theme because I feel it is central to the human experience, and the Christian mind. In reality, if I were to list another series of findings which demonstrate the moral quotient of the American populace as a whole compared to the Christian populace, little if any difference would be seen. I believe this reality stems from our lack of understanding of just how fundamentally distorted our view of life and reality truly is. The reason, I believe, that so few of us find healing in our lives, is that few of us consider the big picture (more on this later) and how we individually fit in. That is to say, when we fail to understand why this world exists in the first place, and when we miss the point of humanity itself, we lose our footing and ability to maintain a life worth living. The big picture, the grand scheme, should be directly affecting our daily lives, our moment by moment interactions. The extent to which it does determines our level of emotional, mental, psychological, and spiritual health. More precisely, our spiritual health, which is determined by our understanding of this world and our place in it, directly affects all the spheres of our lives…it is the guiding force which enables us to finding healing and restoration.
Fundamentally, the central theme which provides the answer to this riddle of life is that of reconciliation. The word itself forces us to consider a sense of brokenness, dis-alignment, severed relationship, and a general lack of order. If something or someone is in need of reconciliation, they are in need of the ship being righted. To be in need of reconciliation is to need an imbalance leveled. I would suggest that the key to finding healing in this life is found in our understanding of our fundamental flaw, our central brokenness. The ills of our culture, which clearly so many wrestle with, are mere symptoms of a larger issue. The core of all of this goes back, all the way, to the beginning. “In the beginning” is where our entire human history, the history of our own lives, and the future history of civilization finds its significance. Without an understanding of why we were created, and how we were intended to live, we cannot hope to navigate this life properly.
And so, from this point on, for the remainder of the week, we will explore the big picture and its practical implications as it pertains to our wholeness, or the lack thereof. Today, we begin with the distortion, our marred view, our actual brokenness, and for the remainder of the week we will flesh it out and look for practical help as we continue to journey toward healing.
The words of Blake’s poem capture the essence of the issue,
This life’s dim windows of the soul, distorts the heavens from pole to pole, and leads you to believe a lie, when you see with, not through, the eye.
As Blake’s poem points out, the issue is the distortion of our “eyes”. As Malcolm Muggeridge suggests, commenting on this poem, “Thus Blake distinguishes between the fantasy that is seen with the eye and the truth that is seen through it.”
The truth that is seen through the eyes of the soul, when our view is not hindered, is that we were created to be in relationship. At our core we are relational beings. Blinded by our improper relational pursuits we lose grip with reality and we find our very being distorted along with our vision. Primarily, we are created beings who were meant to be in relationship with our Creator. When we fail to recognize this truth, we live as though we are “our own” and we live lives detached from the source of life itself. Apart from walking in communion, intimate communion with God, we have no hope for wholeness. We, who were created from nothing, attempt to live as though we are everything. Herein, lies our chief fault, and the great hindrance to life as it is meant to be lived.
The dilemma here is that we live in a culture that has exchanged the truth for the lie. The lie, the fundamental lie of humanity, presented in the garden by Satan himself, is that we are our own, and we can design our own life, relationships, and various quests for fulfillment. It does not work, it will not work, it has never worked. The moment we take the bait, like Adam and Eve, we see life deteriorate, relationships dissolve, and life itself becomes a painful quest for survival. Ingesting this fruit of soul decay leads to the death of life as it was meant to be lived. We are creatures, created beings, attempting to fool ourselves and others into thinking that in actuality we are the creator. The distortion assures our illness.
If we follow the plan as it was intended we will find, through our relationship with God, the ability to then relate to others as we ought. Once reconciled to God, the possibility of being reconciled (being in right, proper, orderly, life giving relationship) to others opens up for us. Truth be told, most of our misery results from the nature of our rifts with others. When we are not in proper relationship with God or with other human beings, how can we expect life to feel whole?
If we are to find ultimate healing and freedom from all the illnesses which malign us, we must break free from the distortion which blinds us. This distortion, this illness, is so nasty and deceptive that it must be dealt with honestly, openly, and with a passion for healing. If we can admit the illness we can begin the journey toward the quality of life God offers us. We can actually pass from the kingdom of brokenness into the land of healing.
I close, today, with the hopeful words of Malcolm Muggeridge as he draws out the implications of our owning up to the blindness which affects us. Commenting, again, on Blake’s poem, he writes,
Thus Blake distinguishes between the fantasy that is seen with the eye and the truth that is seen through it. They are two clearly demarcated kingdoms; and passing from one to the other, from the kingdom of fantasy to the kingdom of reality, gives inexpressible delight. As when the sun comes out, and a dark landscape is suddenly glorified, all that was obscure becoming clear, all that was incomprehensible, comprehensible. Fantasy’s joys and desires dissolve away, and in their place is one joy, one desire; one Oneness–God. In this kingdom of reality Simone Weil tells us, nothing is so continually fresh and surprising, so full of sweet and perpetual ecstasy, as goodness; no desert so dreary, monotonous and boring as evil.
It is in this reconciliation of the soul that we find healing. Our view of the big picture must be righted. As we are reconciled to God and others, and as we reconcile our view of the world with reality, wholeness is offered us.
Praying for your healing and His hope,
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org