I've found this solitary path of finding interior motivations and living by them difficult to sustain because it's relied on me being convicted of what these motivations are, finding the consistency of living up to them, and dealing with times of major doubt in them for after all they are built on my fallible discernment. Knowing people who are more at home in a group be they Muslim, Jew or Traddie, this group path seems easier to sustain and more rewarding. Wouldn't it be better counsel to find communities that are well enough motivated where one can rely on the support of others and to keep connected to these communities?
@Luke3 - "Wouldn't it be better counsel to find communities that are well enough motivated where one can rely on the support of others and to keep connected to these communities?"
I don't know of any - not one. Of course, there are *partially* good (although net-evil) communities that have some potentially useful aspects about them that could be helpful in a selective way. But - from what I can tell - all of these communities seem very fragile, and on a declining spiritual trajectory towards ever increasing 'convergence' with the evil-mainstream.
Furthermore, in an overall and ultimate sense, it seems to me that things are too far gone towards active pursuit of evil for there to be any realistic possibility of reform and reversal (not least because almost nobody seems even to desire this).
In other words, from where we now are; it is probably better that this civilization collapses (destroying the gross evils, along with itself); rather than that it continues along the path that it has so deeply and chronically committed-to - corrupting ever more people, ever more deeply.
This is not my decision to make, but God's - yet with such a prospect so likely, it seems necessary to be able (if or when necessary) to stick to the path of salvation without requiring external social guidance or support.
@Luke3 - "Knowing people who are more at home in a group be they Muslim, Jew or Traddie, this group path seems easier to sustain and more rewarding".
In the past 50 years I was a part of such different groups (not in the past 22 years anymore though) and I can only speak from personal experiences. I tend to agree with Bruce, not 1 - NOT ONE - group came even close to what you suggest. It would be better indeed, but I wonder if this ever can be achieved. I never was part of any community that could accomplish what you proposed (which doesn't mean that there are none existing). The problem is that in most cases, the one (person) that starts such a group - even when s/he has the best intentions (or not) - gets "bypassed" sooner or later by a kind of "Inner Circle". Lots of examples exist. Like ND Walsch (CWG) to name just one.
A purely personal pursuit of finding one's own way out of this Plato-like cave towards the Pleroma (or give It any name you like) is prefered, so at least I believe, for now.
What has helped me the most, is the belief of "non-belief"; or in other words a belief that can always change, is flexible and that can evolve depending on one's personal experiences. Romantic Christianity comes close for me (right now), but also certain forms of Gnosticism. In short, any-thing that offers me a little "some-thing" more of what I have integrated through personal experiences.
30 August 2023 at 21:11
Further considering the possibilities of life as a "secret Christian" - broadly along the lines of Philip K Dick's insight-fantasy - I am struck by the need for this to be more than merely a form of resistance to the oppressive power of the Empire-that-never-ended. To resist for long and without the support of others (which, nowadays, cannot be relied-upon); we need to be resisting for a reason; and that reason should be clear, positive and personal. Such double-negative day-dreams have been all-too dominant for the past couple of centuries; and have failed to provide either sufficient motivation to remain true to the Good, or to provide sufficient clarity and coherence of direction to overcome the temptations of an increasingly evil and System-dominated world. From my experiences and observations; the only thing that can positively motivate genuine resistance strongly and over a long timespan; is having some-thing/s innerly-motivated that one spiritually-needs to get done in life - but when this thing is opposed by the Empire. And this some-thing (or things) needs to be discovered in oneself, made explicit, and freely-given inward endorsement. Having something from within-oneself, and that thing regarded as Good, and contributing to divine creation... All this is a very powerful core motivator, and a motivation that may prevent inward acquiescence to the unrelenting and escalating System demands for ultimate obedience and thought-control. Of course; such a specific factor can only make a general difference when our understanding is generalized; as when one's own inward motivation is recognized as a part of that something much larger which is divine creation; when this apparently-distinct factor is understood as in truth a manifestation (real, however tiny) of love of God and fellow Men. In personal terms; this might mean that the basis of resistance could be the seed of recognizing that The System wants to crush exactly that within you that is most important and Good; that The System insatiably desires to enlist you personally to a very different, external - and evil - agenda. And that this external-evil agenda is in practice imposed-upon us, by the method of getting us to welcome it voluntarily; which is usually achieved by tapping-into that internal agenda of potential-for-evil which we all carry within us. The external-evil agenda is put-forward to our evaluation, as the best (or only possible) means to some internal goal - a goal that is usually evil, but may in fact be overall-Good... When, for instance (and this happened to me many times, and I saw it many times) service to the system Now, is depicted as the best way to achieve one's own best and inner objectives at some point in 'the future'... Thus have I (and many scientists, academics and doctors of my acquaintance) often been seduced by expedient evil options; actually inviting evil into our hearts; while telling ourselves that - by serving The System in the short-term, and thereby doing mediocre or even harmful work; we will (at some point in the longer term, not too far off) become better placed to escape The System demands...If only (They say) you will consent to assist in building and staffing the Black Iron Prison for a little while; then soon you can become strong enough to escape, and set-up your own free community somewhere outside its reach!And Then (at last!) we can really do that best work of which we are capable; and which we have carried in our hearts through the compromised-times of abetting-evil... Yet all too often, and indeed nearly always, the short-term service to the evil System is what actually happens in reality; and the long-term state of freedom to do what is right and best... never arrives - or, at least, is never actually implemented. The reasons are obvious enough; but the root is often that the person did not have some-thing that he really wanted to do: that his motivation was too weak to resist the manifold and unrelenting temptations to serve. I have come to believe that - in these modern conditions of human consciousness (because this was Not always the case in the past) - this is because: 1. our inner motivations and goals must be discovered by ourselves; 2. the motivations and goals must become clear and explicit to us; and 3. we need to take personal spiritual responsibility for pursuing those goals towards which our motivations are pointing. As I have already said; this is only a beginning in transforming negative-resistance into a positive life - but it is a beginning: potentially, if we choose to make it so. (And then the fantasy may become a reality - because each of us will then have become one of the "secret Christians" - always present, always active, never overcome!)
"Positive spiritual reasons for resisting the Empire-that-never-ended, for striving to escape the Black Iron Prison"
3 Comments -
I've found this solitary path of finding interior motivations and living by them difficult to sustain because it's relied on me being convicted of what these motivations are, finding the consistency of living up to them, and dealing with times of major doubt in them for after all they are built on my fallible discernment. Knowing people who are more at home in a group be they Muslim, Jew or Traddie, this group path seems easier to sustain and more rewarding. Wouldn't it be better counsel to find communities that are well enough motivated where one can rely on the support of others and to keep connected to these communities?
28 August 2023 at 12:47
@Luke3 - "Wouldn't it be better counsel to find communities that are well enough motivated where one can rely on the support of others and to keep connected to these communities?"
I don't know of any - not one. Of course, there are *partially* good (although net-evil) communities that have some potentially useful aspects about them that could be helpful in a selective way. But - from what I can tell - all of these communities seem very fragile, and on a declining spiritual trajectory towards ever increasing 'convergence' with the evil-mainstream.
Furthermore, in an overall and ultimate sense, it seems to me that things are too far gone towards active pursuit of evil for there to be any realistic possibility of reform and reversal (not least because almost nobody seems even to desire this).
In other words, from where we now are; it is probably better that this civilization collapses (destroying the gross evils, along with itself); rather than that it continues along the path that it has so deeply and chronically committed-to - corrupting ever more people, ever more deeply.
This is not my decision to make, but God's - yet with such a prospect so likely, it seems necessary to be able (if or when necessary) to stick to the path of salvation without requiring external social guidance or support.
28 August 2023 at 13:11
@Luke3 - "Knowing people who are more at home in a group be they Muslim, Jew or Traddie, this group path seems easier to sustain and more rewarding".
In the past 50 years I was a part of such different groups (not in the past 22 years anymore though) and I can only speak from personal experiences. I tend to agree with Bruce, not 1 - NOT ONE - group came even close to what you suggest. It would be better indeed, but I wonder if this ever can be achieved. I never was part of any community that could accomplish what you proposed (which doesn't mean that there are none existing). The problem is that in most cases, the one (person) that starts such a group - even when s/he has the best intentions (or not) - gets "bypassed" sooner or later by a kind of "Inner Circle". Lots of examples exist. Like ND Walsch (CWG) to name just one.
A purely personal pursuit of finding one's own way out of this Plato-like cave towards the Pleroma (or give It any name you like) is prefered, so at least I believe, for now.
What has helped me the most, is the belief of "non-belief"; or in other words a belief that can always change, is flexible and that can evolve depending on one's personal experiences. Romantic Christianity comes close for me (right now), but also certain forms of Gnosticism. In short, any-thing that offers me a little "some-thing" more of what I have integrated through personal experiences.
30 August 2023 at 21:11