If we do not have a Cause whom we are allegiant to, we will
be scattered.
Remember: A Cause can be male of female but for simplicity's sake I use the male pronoun when referring to a Cause in my writing.Cause: an exemplar, provider, teacher, evaluator; examples of Causes: mentor, parent, coach, counselor, boss, team leader, ecclesiastical leader
What Does It Mean to be Scattered?
Just as we have physical receptor sites in all of our body
systems, we also have spiritual receptor sites.
Because we have the inherent need to receive Peace at those receptor
sites, we cannot opt out of having a Cause.
But if we do not actively make the choice of who our Cause is, we will
just follow what everyone else is doing.
Thus all those different people become our Cause.
Since
everyone has different opinions and ideas of where the pathway to obtaining Joy
is, we will be blown about by their varying ideas, movements, and philosophies kind
of like the fallen leaves are blown about by the wind (Ephesians 4:14 "Every wind of doctrine..."). And if we look to the same scattered sources
for Peace, we will only be able to obtain it while we engage in whatever
Process they suggest is the best. When
we switch to another philosophy that conflicts with the first, we stop
receiving Peace or confirmation from the first and start receiving it from the
second. And the saga continues.
If we engage in this kind of Process continuously, we will
develop Scattered Spiritual Effect Sensors.
The resultant conflict is that we will never be satisfied with just one
Cause. Even if we decided to choose one
Cause and stick with him, we will experience major withdrawal symptoms and it
will feel like this one Cause is not enough.
We may think the problem is our Cause.
We may believe he is not powerful enough to sustain our need for Peace. And in fact that may be the case. But we can’t know that for sure because we
are scattered. (Matt 7:3-5 "Mote and the beam"). The only way to know for sure if a Cause is
enough for us—balanced with our need to receive Peace--is if we endure through
an extended time period of fidelity to one Cause.
We can see how this can be scary. How do we know for sure that this Cause does in
fact know the best way to obtain Joy when our Effect Sensors are Scattered?
We can't tell up from down, good from bad, Peace from Pseudo Peace. And how do we know, upon choosing only him, that he is balanced with
us? We don’t want to commit ourselves to
someone who does not have the ability to support us continuously.
Abuse and Neglect
Sometimes it is the case that we have developed Scattered
Effect Sensors before we even knew about the need to choose a single
Cause. As children we may have been
raised by an abusive and/or negligent parent.
This scatters our Effect Sensors.
A child cannot develop trust in someone who abuses or neglects her continuously. She cannot look to him for Peace. So she will unconsciously and necessarily
turn to other Causes. Because she is so
young and inexperienced, she most likely will turn to everyone for Peace. She keeps her Effect Sensors exposed to
everyone and their dog because she is so in need of Peace.
Remember: A Child can be male of female but for simplicity's sake I use the female pronoun when referring to a Child in my writing.
Remember: A Child can be male of female but for simplicity's sake I use the female pronoun when referring to a Child in my writing.
When she engages in this Scattered Process she will be Spiritually
injured by Conflicting Causes that do not have the ability or intentions of taking care of
her. She learns to mistrust
Causes. She puts up walls around her, a
fortress with barbed wire and machine gun placements.
Different people choose different Resolution Processes to
manage the pain they experience as a Result of their Scattered Effect
Sensors. Some build these walls and
never come out. They remain lonely in
regards to real relationships.
Yet because we all MUST receive from somewhere, they seek
Peace from substances. Food, Alcohol,
drugs, etc. They don’t have to depend on
any one person. They don’t have to
establish relationships because they can just buy their Peace. Yet this is pseudo fulfillment and will leave
a person incomplete and unfulfilled in the end.
Others choose to remain scattered. They go from Cause to Cause and deal with the
injuries. But eventually, if injured
enough, a person will become calloused.
And that blocks their ability to feel Peace. They are numb.
And in some ways, these numb walls do protect but they also prevent us
from ever obtaining Sustainable Joy in our relationships.
Spoiler Alert: Advice
Section
And so we need a General Cause who is willing and able to form
a Father-type relationship with us. In
so doing he interacts with us at our own level.
This kind of Cause will wait for us as we struggle to “break up” with
all of the other Conflicting Causes who have been instrumental in scattering
our Effect Sensors. Breaking up is hard to do.
Great Audio CD: "Break Up With the World" by Hank Smith
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| Luke 18:18-27 "A certain ruler asked him..." |
This kind of Cause will not have any selfish motives yet he
will require our allegiance to him. He
will require our commitment that we do not go searching for Conflicting Causes
and their substances when the going gets tough.
There are also Specific Causes who are in alignment with
this kind of General Cause. They do not
have any selfish motives either. They
only have our best interest in mind.
They serve as Spiritual Leaders and consistently point us to our General
Cause for our needs for Peace. They
exemplify, provide, teach, and evaluate until we can more completely interact
with our General Cause. Once we have
balanced our Effect Sensors so that they are sensitive to our General Cause’s
Effects of Peace AND we have established boundaries against Conflicting Causes,
we are better able to choose a Specific Cause (i.e. Spouse) who is balanced
with our own Inherent Balance.
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| Appropriate Boundaries |
Developing relationships with our General Cause and Specific Spiritual Causes who stand in his name AND THEN SUBSEQUENTLY developing a relationship with a Specific Cause who is in alignment with him in regards to us is the best
Process to resolve the Conflict of Scattered Effect Sensors. It is the best way to obtain Sustainable Joy.
