Thief

I was caught off guard the other day.

At work this past week I made some "light-hearted," insecure comment about my appearance. Didn't think much about it; just spoke, thoughtlessly. Overheard by a patient, before I even knew it he walked up to me and said, "You know how the Bible teaches us to 'Judge not?' ... Well, that includes ourselves." And something else along the lines of -- "You were created by God, and he creates perfection. You are a masterpiece. Not to be judged." [brain unfortunately forgot verbatim.]

***ahem, mind blown***

Let's just say I felt the power on that one.

I've also been learning about fear. How fear has been welcomed into our society and into our thought-lives as a friend, but over time turns into a thief. Each acceptance (whether cognitive or not) of fear down right robs my soul & spirit of freedom. And it doesn't take a whole lot to eventually become consumed - overtaken.

Currently reading The Motivation Manifesto by Brendon Burchard & learning that fear manifests itself primarily in two genres. The socially oppressed & the self-oppressed.

I was immediately brought back to the moment of being caught off guard at work as I read the following regarding fear manifested through self-oppression.

It is a mental construct that we alone fuel with small thoughts that betray our magnitude. It is the first realization of the mindful human: Unless we are being chased by a deadly animal or deranged human, or face imminent physical harm like falling to our death, fear is just bad management of our mind.

Fear is the thief of humanity's light. 

It often becomes a by-all-means-necessary approach to controlling any given situation so that the body - but most often the ego - can feel safe and unchallenged. Fear was given to us as a motive to avoid physical harm and death. That is it. We are the ones who have perverted it into a tool for the ego's protection. Almost all the fear we experience today has nothing to do with physical threat. We have taken this impulse for safety and bastardized it into ego-driven desires to feel more emotionally comfortable. We've hacked its short-term nature into a long-term tool to avoid difficult circumstances in order to satiate our base desires for approval. Fear has become a crutch for emotional weakness. And as with all crutches, we shall fall slave to its use unless we once more condition our strength. Most people do not like to discuss fear because it inevitably exposes the ugly truth that we are more often fleeing from ourselves than actual danger.

With all of this floating its way through my brain, I also came across an Instagram post:
"Building your theology around your disappointment is dangerous. The nature of God does not change just because your circumstances often do."
Followed by the commentary from Papa Bill Johnson saying, Anything and everything that seems without hope is under the influence of a lie. "We've got to keep our eyes on what the word says about who we are and who He is always. We cannot see clearly when hurt, disappointment, and bitterness is in the way. It's impossible to see clearly who we are and who He is without off loading these things at His feet first."

So yes. So much yes. So much this-is-a-beautifull-messy-life. Good thing we get to receive it in doses. One day at a time.

Back to the book:

We must not worry about what could go wrong but rather wonder about what magnificence could enter our lives when we are consistently expressing our genuine selves and pursuing our true passions. 

Let us obsess about freedom, not fear.   

Freedom from death. Freedom in Christ. [give Galatians a read]
This is good news. My Jesus. My obsession.

In other news, Gregory Alan Isokov has a delightful album titled: Songs for October. Seems fitting. Thank me later;)