I will simply add this to yesterday's post...
As a Christian, intuition is further affirmed and expanded by the speaking of God in my heart. The direct, personal accountability to the "Voice" within must also be guarded and attended to lest others/groups/causes circumvent it and suddenly I find myself behaving differently or even contrary to the way I was made.
I can blame others/groups/causes for manipulating, undermining, or confusing me. But in the end, I make my own decisions. That is the only real power that I possess.
The most I can offer the world, my neighbor, and my family is to vigilantly attend to my own decisions. Have I checked with my Lord? Have I checked with my intuition? What does my gut tell me? Will my behavior support healthiness in me? I have found that if I do not do this, if I allow the voices outside (perceived or out-spoken) to reign, then my insecurities and issues make me the one who manipulates, undermines, and confuses those around me. My health contributes directly to their health.
Even now, as in my comment to
alwaysseeking, I wonder if this post makes sense and if I need to add anything so that everyone will "get it." But I hear a still, quiet voice..."this is enough. it is you. it is your story. let it be."
And so I endeavor to "let it be" for my sake and yours.
Comments (5)
I appreciated your stopping by and your remarks. Thank you. I agree that personal responsibility is the bottom line, and may add that one good way is to always check things against scripture itself. Even Paul advised if he or an angel taught something different to reject it. I am not sure abusive people are always intentful in their abuse but the effect on the abused is just as real........... John
For instance, someone very close to me is a Christian, but doesn't go to church. The old me would have judged her, but the new me understands that she went through some serious abuse of her own that makes church feel like an unsafe place, and she has to do what is best for herself.
About what you wrote here, I couldn't agree more. We each need to be governors of our own conscience. There is a tendency in our conservative churches for everyone to think they own everyone else, and to be much too free with 'advice' about how to run our lives. There is a good side to this, of course, in that we want to be told the truth if we have strayed, but it is not often done well these days. What really happens is, like you said, it really turns into manipulation. The insecure are manipulated and then turn into manipulators. I have been there on both side of the transaction, believe me. That's why I partly blame myself for the abuse I suffered. I kind of 'asked for it', by being to free with my judgment of others around me. May God cleanse all that out of me completely!
Peace!
I have read your post again and it got me thinking a lot about a terrific character in one of the Jane Austen novels (yes, I really really really love Jane Austen.) If you haven't read Mansfield Park you may want to read it. There is a really lovely character, Fanny Price, who is the heroine of the story. She's not one of Austen's best-loved characters, but her story is appropriate to your discussion here. She is timid and shy and unsure of herself and unsure of her place in the world all the time, and she is always pushed around by the stronger personalities around her.
But when the rubber meets the road, and she is called on to choose between what she knows is right, and what those around her are telling her to do, she sticks her ground. They are all shocked to see her behaving so 'willfully and stubbornly', but that's just because they did not expect it. She is proved right in the end. It's a very good story. She obeyed her inner voice, her conscience, and it did not lead her astray. She was a blessing to others because of this.
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Christy, the picture on the left here should give a hint about which P&P I prefer.
The only Mansfield Park I have seen is a 6-part BBC teleplay, which I've just finished watching. It's really really badly acted, but I liked it anyway because they kept almost everything in it. Is this the one you saw?
The P&P and the Emma Thompson S&S are regular replays for me.