The Twin Demons and Faith
English class was very interesting today. We talked alot about the Heroic Journey and life. Really cool stuff. Dealt with Jungian psychology and all that. Here were some things that in particular struck me.
Part of the essay we discussed talked of two demons. I'll paraphrase somewhat but also add my own personal experience with it.
There are two demons that we all face every morning. It doesn't matter if we defeated these demons the day before. They're revived and renewed every day. Its a constant struggle that we must face our entire lives.
The Demons are Fear and Lethargy.
The Demon of Lethargy eggs us in to inaction. Intices us to sit back and forget about the things we know we must do to attain a real life. It can be a desire to sleep in. A inclination to spending our time on trivial things.
I hate to say it but I'm guilty of this one a lot. Most people in the Western World are I think. We have too many distractions, movies, T.V., video games, and the internet. All of them distract us from real life. Instead of actively going out and doing things we sit back and see if there's something else on a different channel.
Worse is that we all constantly desire to do something. We want adventure, we want excitement, we want life. Instead though we do things that let us simulate those things. T.V. and movies are extremely passive things that require us to do nothing in order to simulate that.
Video games are worse because it creates that feeling of doing something even stronger. But the problem is we don't actually do anything. We save the princess yes. But once you turn the machine off you haven't accomplished anything.
I'm guilty of that.
The same is true with the internet. It serves as a massive distraction from our real heroic journey that we must take to become a true human being.
Now I'm not trying to harp on these things. Or people that participate in them. Heck I do it all the time! And there's nothing wrong with a little diversion. But I worry that myself and others have gotten so far into it that we have lost a true sense that its just a distraction not a life.
The Demon of Fear is also one I'm guilty of.
It tells us that we can't do the things we wish to accomplish. It tells me for example that the girl I yearn to speak with wouldn't say more than two words to me. Usually those words in my mind are "Get Lost".
Fear says that I'm stupid, that there's something wrong with me and I shouldn't even try at the things I want because I'll only fail. Fear gives me the excuses I need to not try.
But in my life I've noticed that the good things that have happened to me have been a result of me getting past fear. Even if I don't accomplish my goal.
Take what happened between Alisha and I. I spent a year fearing that if I tried to talk to her again, To resolve what happened between us I'd fail. That she'd think I was a psycho, or that she'd tell me that she hated me. Or that she would no longer think I was a good guy anymore.
When I finally did talk to her again. I didn't achieve what I wanted. We didn't get back together and we definetly won't be talking again anytime soon. Maybe never.
That said though, I have more peace now because I did it. I no longer feel bound by that fear. I feel free again! Finally free to pursue other girls. Now I just have to get over the fear of talking to them. Daily struggle.
Then there's Faith.
When Alisha dumped me I really got pissed at God. I had Faith that if I prayed hard enough, he could change things. Open her heart and show her that things weren't like she saw it.
I felt my Faith had gone unanswered.
Now I'd already resloved those feelings before today. I've come to realize that Alisha has her own free will and she is too locked in her own fear to have a relationship with me or any other man. But I realized something about myself.
When I felt God was slapping my Faith back at me I didn't realize that it wasn't Faith in God I was showing. It was Faith in the thing I wanted. I had convinced myself that what I wanted was so important, and that if I believed enough God would surely grant it.
But my Faith was misplaced. It should have been on God and Christ. I should have had Faith that if it was their will it would be so. I ignored that. If I'd kept that perspective then my Faith wouldn't have waivered because I would have known that they were in charge and that while things didn't go the way the way I wanted things would still work out.
Another thing I'd forgetten is that Faith is a principle of Action. We can't have Faith without acting. Faith without action is Hope. You have to actively assert yourself to make Faith work. Through prayer, through fasting, through studying the scriptures, and through actively seeking out the thing it is you want.
I can have all the Faith I want that God will help me pass a test but it won't do me a bit of good if I don't act on it and take the test and study it. Only then will God bless my endeavor. Only then will I have Faith.
Anyways just a few thoughts that have been floating around my head today.
Part of the essay we discussed talked of two demons. I'll paraphrase somewhat but also add my own personal experience with it.
There are two demons that we all face every morning. It doesn't matter if we defeated these demons the day before. They're revived and renewed every day. Its a constant struggle that we must face our entire lives.
The Demons are Fear and Lethargy.
The Demon of Lethargy eggs us in to inaction. Intices us to sit back and forget about the things we know we must do to attain a real life. It can be a desire to sleep in. A inclination to spending our time on trivial things.
I hate to say it but I'm guilty of this one a lot. Most people in the Western World are I think. We have too many distractions, movies, T.V., video games, and the internet. All of them distract us from real life. Instead of actively going out and doing things we sit back and see if there's something else on a different channel.
Worse is that we all constantly desire to do something. We want adventure, we want excitement, we want life. Instead though we do things that let us simulate those things. T.V. and movies are extremely passive things that require us to do nothing in order to simulate that.
Video games are worse because it creates that feeling of doing something even stronger. But the problem is we don't actually do anything. We save the princess yes. But once you turn the machine off you haven't accomplished anything.
I'm guilty of that.
The same is true with the internet. It serves as a massive distraction from our real heroic journey that we must take to become a true human being.
Now I'm not trying to harp on these things. Or people that participate in them. Heck I do it all the time! And there's nothing wrong with a little diversion. But I worry that myself and others have gotten so far into it that we have lost a true sense that its just a distraction not a life.
The Demon of Fear is also one I'm guilty of.
It tells us that we can't do the things we wish to accomplish. It tells me for example that the girl I yearn to speak with wouldn't say more than two words to me. Usually those words in my mind are "Get Lost".
Fear says that I'm stupid, that there's something wrong with me and I shouldn't even try at the things I want because I'll only fail. Fear gives me the excuses I need to not try.
But in my life I've noticed that the good things that have happened to me have been a result of me getting past fear. Even if I don't accomplish my goal.
Take what happened between Alisha and I. I spent a year fearing that if I tried to talk to her again, To resolve what happened between us I'd fail. That she'd think I was a psycho, or that she'd tell me that she hated me. Or that she would no longer think I was a good guy anymore.
When I finally did talk to her again. I didn't achieve what I wanted. We didn't get back together and we definetly won't be talking again anytime soon. Maybe never.
That said though, I have more peace now because I did it. I no longer feel bound by that fear. I feel free again! Finally free to pursue other girls. Now I just have to get over the fear of talking to them. Daily struggle.
Then there's Faith.
When Alisha dumped me I really got pissed at God. I had Faith that if I prayed hard enough, he could change things. Open her heart and show her that things weren't like she saw it.
I felt my Faith had gone unanswered.
Now I'd already resloved those feelings before today. I've come to realize that Alisha has her own free will and she is too locked in her own fear to have a relationship with me or any other man. But I realized something about myself.
When I felt God was slapping my Faith back at me I didn't realize that it wasn't Faith in God I was showing. It was Faith in the thing I wanted. I had convinced myself that what I wanted was so important, and that if I believed enough God would surely grant it.
But my Faith was misplaced. It should have been on God and Christ. I should have had Faith that if it was their will it would be so. I ignored that. If I'd kept that perspective then my Faith wouldn't have waivered because I would have known that they were in charge and that while things didn't go the way the way I wanted things would still work out.
Another thing I'd forgetten is that Faith is a principle of Action. We can't have Faith without acting. Faith without action is Hope. You have to actively assert yourself to make Faith work. Through prayer, through fasting, through studying the scriptures, and through actively seeking out the thing it is you want.
I can have all the Faith I want that God will help me pass a test but it won't do me a bit of good if I don't act on it and take the test and study it. Only then will God bless my endeavor. Only then will I have Faith.
Anyways just a few thoughts that have been floating around my head today.