Tag: belief

“Anxiousness & Fear” – excerpt from Pursuing Wisdom: Unmasking Theology

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Anxiousness is “characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear about some contingency: worried” (Merriam-Webster). It is not surprising that this is in direct connection to the fears coming from our ultimate need. Is it not obvious that there would naturally be a sense of fear a lone creation, in the absence of his or her Creator, would feel? But just to make sure we are on the same page about this leery nature induced by fear, let us also look at the definition of fear.

Fear is “to be afraid or apprehensive” (Merriam-Webster).This emotion is induced by an imminent danger the creation is subject to in light of being unplugged from the Source. The creation cannot sustain itself eternally. Therefore, whether or not the conscious mind allows itself to be aware of the existence of God doesn’t change the fact that God exists and furthermore everything in us and around us is disconnected from him and cries out with urgency due to impending doom.

We must be careful not to miss the important difference between anxiousness and fear. While fear is clearly the emotion of that natural danger we reviewed earlier, anxiousness is “characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind.” It would be very easy to simply write this off as another description of emotion. However, utilizing our progressive understanding of our reasoning we can clearly see that while fear is the emotion, anxiousness is the result of human reasoning being applied to the emotion.

When we are anxious or worried, it is not simply an emotion. Anxiousness would be the precursor to the rise of the prevention need we learned of in the first chapter. We know that appealing to the human nature in I Must Resolve is obviously not-God. However, fear is the effect of noticing the disconnection and instability we have on our own. It is then that the choice is made about where we go in order to resolve it. Therefore, if part of wisdom is reason applied to revelation, then anxiousness would simply be human reasoning applied to fear. It is in this stasis that modes dominate and conquer the human psyche.

There are only two ways to remove anxiousness. The I Must Resolve way cultivates modes to the point that the reality of our disconnection is denied and replaced with modes suggesting dominance over emotion. The submissive God Will Resolve way removes anxiousness by casting our cares upon the Lord (I Peter 5:7) and, in faith, gaining a “peace that transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:6-7).

The only reason I am going into this much detail about a subject catered to in the first chapter is because I feel it is important for us to understand, as Christians, that our human nature will cry out against our attempts to push through mere feelings in pursuit of our need of discovery. It is only natural that we will face a rebellion from our human state as we seek with the fullness of our faith to grow closer to God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Our desire for wisdom will create a sense of turmoil within us.

With the revelation of modes and the exposure of insecurity, it is so easy for us to cater to feelings. Furthermore, with the aid of human reasoning (mode) we could easily disassociate ourselves from introspection. But let us not be like Logos was originally whereby we would merely attempt to manipulate the indicators of our deficiencies. Let us run with earnest in the effort of exposing all that hinders us from having a deeper relationship with our Lord. Let us trust with the God Will Resolve mentality, which is only natural to the new creation and those reborn who follow Christ, that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us our purpose and direction.

Oh Lord, Where were you?

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Oh Lord, Where were you,
When the villains came out,
When the evil afflicted,
And fear led to doubt?
Oh Lord, Where were you,
When they boarded the planes
When children lost parents
And death fell like rain?
Oh Lord, Where were you?
With a gun held high,
He entered the school,
And took their sweet lives.
Oh Lord, Where were you,
In the years of abduction,
While their families awaited,
Any kind of instruction?
Oh Lord, Where were you?
We ask and don’t know,
It shakes our faith,
Amidst fear and woe.
Oh Lord, Where were you?
We assume, Lord of Hosts,
That you were the foe,
Who neglected your post.
Oh Lord, Where were you?
We ask, blind and lost,
We can barely conceive,
The measure of sin’s cost.
Oh Lord, Where were you,
May be the wrong plea,
In this fear stricken world,
Oh Lord, Where were we?
Oh Lord, Where were you?
Surely there at the towers,
Under desks at the school,
Where the victims would cower.
Oh Lord, Where were you?
Always with us within,
Preparing and determining,
When this madness will end.

Pascal on Automation

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How much does automation, habit, affect a Christian’s belief structure? How much of our make up is reason versus habit? See what Pascal says:

For we must make no mistake about ourselves: we are as much automaton as mind. As a result, demonstration is not the only instrument for convincing us. How few things can be demonstrated! Proofs only convince the mind; habit provides the strongest proofs and those that are most believed. It inclines the automation, which leads the mind unconsciously along with it. Who ever proved that it will dawn tomorrow, and that we shall die? And what is more widely believed? It is, then, habit that convinces us…We must resort to habit once the mind has seen where the truth lies, in order to steep and stain ourselves in that belief…, for it is too much trouble to have the proofs always present before us… When we believe only by the strength of our own conviction and the automation is inclined to believe the opposite, that is not enough. We must therefore make both parts of us believe: the mind by reasons, which need to be seen only once in a lifetime, and the automation by habit…
(Pascal – Pensees)

In my book, “Pursuing Wisdom: Unmasking Theology” I define a Mode as the behavioral response of a conscious or subconscious pre-selection of automation in reaction to insecurity or ambiguity. The idea is that in order to cope with the natural insecurities man faces in light of being disconnected with God by sin, there is a defense mechanism set in place within us to choose our own way to resolve this fear. Obiously man is powerless to create his own true eternal security. There is only the illusion, the shroud that can be pulled over in order to mask what is really going on. Therefore the most content human, apart from having salvation in Jesus, would be the true dualist or the pantheist who is so completely detatched from the existence of this insecurity that they experience an illusion of peace. The effort of my book is to assist in unearthing modes with the Christian so that he/she may engage in a deeper more genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.

Pascal’s words in the excerpt above provide a helpful insight into understanding that automation, in itself, is not bad. Automation, or habit, is a part of every human. The effort of trying to remove habit completely from our lives and live completely by constant choice in every situation would be quite disastrous. Likely, there would be emotional breakdowns in the grocery aisles as to which brand to buy and by the end of the day, if one made it that far, he/she would be a basket-case without automation. I think what Pascal is saying here is that automation can be a good tool when proper ideas of belief are “steeped” or “stained”. And yet I think that Pascal skipped over a danger here about the automations, the habits that perpetuate our self-dependency. The “modes” that exist in us usurp our efforts to engage in honest discourse with our Lord and in our fellowship. In growing up in a Christian home, I knew well how to put on Christianity. If someone in discipleship came to me and said I just need to give myself over to Jesus, then I would, of course, “do” that. But the true surrender is a heart issue. Therefore, while I completely believe that it is the Holy Spirit who does the transforming in us (Rom. 8:26-27; Jn 14:26), I also believe that He offers us opportunities to unmask these modes in our lives by deeply acknowledging where we have been dependent on ourselves not just in our daily choices but in automation as well.

Pascal’s advice is valuable because it takes automation and properly positions it as a method of firmly rooting our beliefs. Pascal was a rationalist who recognized that completely relying on empirical “truths” is not stable for Christian development. These “truths” are often subjective and this is proved by simply observing that many times fixed constants are actually unfixable variables (Pursuing Wisdom 108,138). If automation is used to ground the proper belief then we can move on in our sanctification. But if we don’t at least acknowledge that there can be faulty automation within us, then we will continue to operate in mode and thus taint our walk and the walks of those that come in contact with us. We must look within and pray that the Holy Spirit will unearth the foundations in us that are not rooted in Jesus.