Say first what cause mov'd our grand parents, in that happy state
favour'd of Heaven so highly, to fall off from their Creator, and
trangress his will, for one restraint, lords of the world besides?Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate at once, as far as angels' ken,
he views the dismal situation wast and wild: a dungeon horrible, on all
sides round, as one great furnace, flam'd: yet from those flames no light,
but rather darkness visible, serv'd only to discover sights of woe...Fallen Cherub, to be weak is miserable, doing or suffering: but of this be
sure, to do aught good never will be our task; but ever to do ill our sole
delight; as being the contrary to his high will whom we resist.Where there is then no good for which to strive, no strife can grow up there
from faction. (speaking of how Hell can, oxymoratically, attain 'unity')
I've begun to wonder if many of the transient and miscrit human feelings we label as 'wrong' or 'bad' are just that: labels. Consider if Satan, or at least a personified being as the ultimate fallacy of humanity, is ever disgusted with himself. Is he ever found wallowing in his abject lowliness? Does he continually reduce himself to more disappointing proportions? Most likely not.
It may be deduced, then, that if Satan experiences no good, and also experiences none of the above stated self-loathing, then there may be a purpose (Grk: Telos) to our depressionism. If we feel that we are socially inadequate, maybe we are. Such feelings could help us to grow and learn- an opportunity to define our sociality. If we are dissatisified with our body, maybe it is a propulsion for gym attendance. It could be time to commit to a healthier lifestyle. This interpretation obviously has limits, and is constrained to application of a mentally healthy person.
On the reverse side of the argument, if we decide that certain feelings aren't healthy or target-based, then it may be time to learn to quelch them or be satisfied with who we are enough to reject them.
1 comment:
Feelings are creations of the body designed to help us - by motivating us - into certain mental states and therein impactful modes of behavior towards our environment through actions, works.
This is why spiritual communications are often matters of feelings.
It is also why the adversary would like nothing more than to convince mankind that pride, enmity (ill will) towards God or man is appropriate. Prideful people are easy to control. From the feelings of pride stem competition (for the purpose of setting yourself above others) - motivatational efforts which lead to substantial works, and often foster other feelings designed, if not to control the host, then so to destroy the host. Linked to pride is the train of contention, anger, even violence or significant misdeeds - all these are one end of the spectrum, on the other - self loathing, self pity, devalued personal perception.
Social trends, traditions, cultural expectations are for the most part creations of people developed by the popular masses. Every major era and powerful influence has had its established preferences for socializing people. In truth, all of us, as imperfect as we are mistreat each other at times and are thereby socially inadequate. Unfortunately most people have developed unspoken rules whereby people are shunned because they don't fit established social patterns of the day. In these instances people just give themselves reasons to segregate those that are different from them.
Intrinsic to all men and women are reasons to associate with them and be social, it merely requires an open mind and a right heart.
It requires a proper perception of a person and the value they hold, as opposed to the value of what you can get out of them. The old standing; whats in it for me versus what can I give.
It is true. Through our interactions with our "clinical material" (our social interactions), others may point out, or we may come to discover our weaknesses. Not of the socio-cultural per say (because these after all are fads that pass and would have no place in Rome during Christ's time, in Japan during the Samuri's time, or the future in 2000 years time), but weaknesses in regard to truths on how to properly treat other people. For the humble, growth and its attendent fruit comes more easily. For the prideful the experience is full of manipulations, coercions, power plays, frustrations, mistrust, betrayal, contentions, usurptions, and all the like.
Being socially included is not always a good thing and being unincluded is not always a sign that one is socially inadequate. It is highly dependent on whether the society and its practices are good. Christ was never truly socially accepted, it was his own society which led him to be nailed to a cross. He, however, was social accepting of all and never diminished his standards of excellence to fit in with the social pecking program of the day and their cultural grandstanding and caste making.
In regards to depression. Depression is a state of mind which consumes energy and puts the body into a fight or flight state. It is taxing. The body is vigilant because there are expectations built in the mind which are not or can not be fulfilled and this is carried by the body as a threat. Often times associated with depression is anxiety, some form of fear of some type of loss. These complications most often arise from the perceptions we create of the world and how we believe it should work. Often times erroneous to truth. When things don't go according to those perceptions, depression and anxiety often result. This is not the only thing that can happen, though. Coping in these situations revolve around two strategic points of emphasis.
One, is changing the way you feel about an issue. Two, is doing something to change the issue. In my estimation, the adversary obviously has a perception on how he would want reality to be structured and operate. It is also obvious that he chooses to cope with his continued disappointments by actively trying to change the status quo. And it is my belief that therein lies his hell.
Truth is unrelenting. The adversary is delusional and seeks to make others delusional. Delusional means - false belief. The adversary believes in things that are not true. He seeks to make the untrue - true. It is not possible, but he desires his way anyway. Native to the word desire which is the foundation that leads to belief, hope, and actions, is the the word ardor. Ardor means to burn. The adversary burns for his reality and will never achieve it. He will burn forever.
In regards to depression as a servicable tool. It is as servicable as the pain we experience after touching a hot stove. It is a marker that our perception on the world and life is incorrect and that we are trying to get from it something in someway that doesn't work. Depression, barring any malformation, chemical abnormality, or trauma to the brain, in general is a result of an incorrect perception and/or thinking. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind. Depression is a consequence of improper behavior. To fix the situation the truth of the matter must be sought out and learned and then followed. When actions are faithful to the truth of the matter our expectations are consequently fulfilled and there is no depression nor anxiety but contentedness, which is another word for being happy. That's also another reason the adversary will never be happy - he'll never conform himself to truth, all truths having been established by God.
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