What you do not know, is that if you do break free and walk toward that window you will come up hard against the prison wall behind. All that scene is an illusion, artfully painted for you to channel your yearning. You continue to be caught up in your delusion, just unloose these bindings, and you can walk through that window to freedom and that lovely scene you constantly see and long for. Of course, it his paradise compared to the rest of the darkness and restrictions that the room presents.

The system of deception throws up illusion after illusion to prevent you from truly breaking free. Each time you move towards “truth” and “freedom” you are encountering another realm of deception that lures you into thinking you have found “truth”. Sure, you can settle in any of those illusions and live all your life believing that you have discover the genuine and the factual. All your senses, your friends, neighbors, social contacts, political allies, and everyone you encounter will reinforce the notion that you have discovered life’s meaning. You will attach yourself to causes where you find common ground with others and some sense of fulfillment too. You speak a shared language with those around you, you all embrace a collective morality and buy the same arguments, propositions and assumptions. You finally belong.

Nowhere is this scenario more evident in your politics. You have come to a place of common philosophy. You have found your “tribe” and are “living” your “truth”. Every day the headlines provide you with directions as to what you should hate, approve, love. You can find satisfaction in embrace of collaborative causes. You find meaning in the turbulent surge of emotions such as outrage at the latest appalling policy an opposing politician proposes. Righteous anger floods your veins as “they” transgress all the settled virtues your side has prescribed for all. You can release all your pent-up rage, anger, hatred and resentment at your opponents on social media and receive the reassuring feedback of all those other millions of users who echo your same sentiment. Everyone else repeats it so it must be true.

What you do not know is that everyone else is in the same prison, facing the same illusions that you are seeing. No diversion, dissention or difference is allowed.

You can believe this voice is the product of a deranged mind. After all it is one small voice that sounds a little different from the chorus you are used to hearing. It is making you uncomfortable. It is forcing you to question all the assumptions and ideologies you have so eagerly embraced. It is a minority. It should be ignored and shut out.

So, here is an experiment to tell if you are truly “woke”. It is pretty simple, you are told to use it when you are dreaming. Take an action. Pinch yourself. It is the same method, just applied to your mental and intellectual processes.

FIRSTLY

Acknowledge that there is an absolute truth that exists outside of your own consciousness. In other words, if you were suddenly to disappear from this planet or die, this truth would still exist. Christianity teaches that this truth is a person. Jesus said it:

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (Joh 14:6 AV)

This word “truth” stems from the very beautiful Greek “Aletheia” which means Truth, what is true in any sense. It speaks to what is objective, reality, fact and so on. It also refers to truth in a moral sense and what is true in things pertaining to God and the duties of man among its other uses. This word is also used when talking about the Christian meaning of truth. It shows up in doctrinal verses such as:

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (Joh 1:14-17 AV)

SECONDLY

Recognize that it is perfectly reasonable for you to seek that truth, whatever you may think it is at the moment. You would be in “good” company. Pilate asked, when standing before Jesus whom he thought was an innocent person on a trumped-up charge, what is truth?

“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.” (Joh 18:37-38 AV)

Perhaps if he had asked: “who is truth”?, Jesus would also have answered.

THIRDLY

Answer this question. Can you see the boundaries of your own ideology? In other words, can you identify the biases and limitations of the ideologies you have adopted? Can you detect their weaknesses?

Were you exposed to or taught about the finite applications that they may allow for in terms of personal choices, public policies or vehicles for attracting political adherents? Can you clearly detect their usefulness or lack thereof?

If you answered “no”, it means that you are deep in the illusion. You have been thoroughly indoctrinated and are the victim of masterful propaganda. True methods of teaching will tell you the weaknesses and limitations of the ideologies and philosophies to which you are being exposed, right up front.

If you answered “Yes” to this question, you are beginning to sense the breadth and depth of the illusions to which you have been exposed and are currently enmeshed. Keep on going in your search for truth.

FORTHLY.

If you are brave enough, begin to listen to those around you. Do they demonstrate the same fanatic fervor about the group ideology as those on the other side whom they are encouraging you to eschew? Do they express the same evangelistic fervor in their zeal to measure your and each group members’ conformity to the overarching group think? Do they allow others with different notions to exist, explain and expose their ideas to you and others in your group? Do they allow you to dissent or stray away from prevailing orthodoxies?

FIFTHLY

This step is most telling of all. What happens when you raise doubt about the prevailing ideology? Do they shut you out? Do they “entertain” them and quickly guide you to a “tolerant” or “open minded” conclusion? Do they hastily distract you with some other ideas that feeds your emotions? Do they encourage you to “feel” and respond emotionally to the question under consideration? Do they use your emotions to tell you what your thoughts should focus on? In other words, do they manipulate your emotions?

One of the central promises of the Jesus of Christianity is freedom. He pointed out that those whom the Son set free would be free indeed.

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (Joh 8:31-36 AV)

The word “free” is the Greek “eleuthero” which means to liberate, make or set free, deliver, and set at liberty.  It appears in only five other verses in the New Testament (Rom. 6:18,22, 8:2,21, Gal. 5:1).

This freedom is just as it says. You are free indeed. Liberated to think for yourself. At liberty to reason with God (Is. 1:18). You are free to accept or reject. You are delivered to live in the spirit or walk in the flesh (although this is very highly undesirable). You are unfettered to have your mind and mental processes renewed and healed to reflect the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).

Yes, you might think, you don’t consider it freedom when that same Christian God tells you that you can choose, but if you do not choose His way you will be cast into hell. You believe He punishes those who do not walk according to His way by condemning them to eternal damnation.

Perhaps you may be right. Then your resistance to Him would be justified. You can even entertain the notion that the freedom He is offering is merely another illusion.

Consider this however, what if He, living outside of time, is inserting Himself into our temporal reality to warn us about the two sets of alternatives, choices and consequences which were not created for us. What if these choices and consequences were laws set in motion from eternity, and we stumbled into them by succumbing to the manipulation of an evil being who acted in rebellion and is destined for eternal damnation? What if that being is trying to trap us into joining him in his eternal misery by enticing us to walk his way, instead of the way that leads to true freedom? What if the being you call “god” is truly good and is constantly interrupting enemy propaganda to send you messages that are meant to awaken you to what is really going on? What if God is truly reaching down into time, this limited physical realm and trying to rescue you from all this illusion to bring you into all truth?

SIXTHLY

Test yourself. are you courageous enough to explore these possibilities? What if you find out that this is when you become truly awaken? Here is the good news, if you begin this exploration and find that it is indeed truth, you will want to continue along this journey.

not only did God provide this avenue of escape for you, but He also made it so that we can choose to love or hate, reject or accept. He outlines the consequences of each choice, but He doesn’t force us to choose. Yes, there are consequences attached to each choice, but we have not been preprogramed to make either.

We can remain with the illusions, knowing and accept them for what they are, now that we have been alerted to them. Many people do. They return to familiar comforts, unwilling to risk the loneliness or pain of estrangement which may result from abandoning the dominant and overarching illusions which parade as a “unifying force”. Life is easier when they ignore the uncomfortable and substitute it for the “broad way”  

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Mt 7:13-14 AV)

On the other hand, we can catch hold of that eternal Hand that is reaching down through all the fog and deceptive mist of ideologies, philosophies, multitude of words and ideas to rescue us and place us in a bold, empowering truth that lets us interact with Him with mutual freedom, openness, honesty and love. Most wonderful of all, our surrender to God’s freedom and truth removes our illusions and places us in relationship with truth.

Learn More about Spiritual growth and maturity from:

Sproul, Wendy. 2017. March to Maturity: Grounded and Built. North Charleston, South Carolina. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

The Matrix (1999)

One of the most memorable quotes from “Enders Game” by the Science fiction writer Orson Scot Card states that

“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them…. I destroy them.”

Put in Scot Card’s words, the idea seems a little strange at first, however, it is reminiscent of Jesus’ famous injunction for us to love our enemies.

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” (Mt 5:44 AV)

And:

“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,” (Lu 6:27 AV)

Jesus seems to have given us the impossible to do. We are to love our enemies and do good to those who seek to hurt us. Why would he give us this particular injunction? Simply put, Jesus understands the value of love and the danger of engaging hatred. This is especially important when we are confronting enemies whom we believe are bent on destroying us in all areas of our lives, especially in the current bitter political climate in which many of us find ourselves.

Orson Scot Card’s application of Jesus’ directive in the political sphere suggests that Love follows understanding. However, for the majority of the rest of us imperfect humans, love usually precedes understanding. If you love your enemy, you can get to know and understand him. When you understand him, you can then develop empathy, and it is then you can defeat him.

Nevertheless, Scot card’s argument is valuable because it establishes the relationship between understanding and loving others. This then equips us with the information we can use to defeat him or her. This is very true in political strategies.  Loving our political opponents means that we would pay attention to them, we would come to understand their viewpoints and their strategies and then learn to neutralize them, because we have come to know their weaknesses and strengths. We can use their strengths to our advantage and enhance their weaknesses in order to defeat them. We can make better judgment as to how best to respond to our enemies so as to mitigate their influences and possible harm which they can inflict on us. This, in fact, was how Ender was able to defeat the Hive Queen.

On the other hand, hatred is self-destructive. It shuts us off from our enemies. In the realm of the supercharged, hostile politics which characterizes today’s environment, the more animus we display to our political foes, the more we destroy our own causes. It has long been instinctively known that the animosity and bile we spew against our rivals speak more about us than the target of our odium. Those in our audience looking on come to their own conclusions about us and the ideas we are peddling as we seek to destroy our enemies and win verbal battles.

A frequent discussion my husband and I hold is this. If our neighbor stands at the top of our street and yells and screams at his or her opponent all day, every day, pretty soon the rest of us looking on will come to conclusions about that neighbor, not the target of his or her rancor. If the targeted neighbor resists being drawn into a two-way quarrel, we will all very rapidly come to despise the screaming neighbor. This holds true, even if the vocal neighbor had valid grievances, and the offender justly deserved the initial tirade.

So it is with hatred. It poisons the person who embraces it. It destroys his or her objectivity and fairness as it becomes all encompassing and devastating. Sure, we might be tempted to think that the target was all he or she was accused of, but after relentless attacks, pretty soon the attacker, and not the target becomes the problem to others. We might even begin to feel sympathy for the target of the hatred. The attacker will have lost his or her argument, and earned the rejection of the onlookers.

At more insidious moral levels, hatred eats at the soul of the individual who embraces it. This individual may shut out his opponent, fail to glean any useful information, and become vulnerable to the manipulations of his opponent. Hatred, like any other uncontrolled emotion, blinds the mind and results in stupid and irrational actions and reactions. It leads to self-destructive practices and more often than not damages the hater not the target.

When Jesus instructed us to love our enemies, He knew this very well. He knew that hatred would lead us to all kinds of negative words, thoughts, and actions. We would lose self-control and open ourselves up to demonic infestation and manipulation. Jesus also knew that Love, on the other hand, can help us to overcome those who would destroy us, while protecting us from the harmful consequences of our enemies’ actions. It can disarm them and win over our audience. Just as hatred can help us to lose our audience, love can encourage them to embrace our viewpoint as it increases our credibility and attractiveness. Our refusal to return evil for evil will enhance our reputation as worthy people and create interest in our strategies and counsels.

Though seeming impossible, Love of our enemies is very possible. The word “love” in the scripture references above is translated from the Greek word “agape”. This love is not a warm, fuzzy acceptance of another, but a more spiritual, godly seeking of the best welfare, or seeking the highest good for our enemies. Consider this for a moment. If we are seeking the best welfare of those who want to destroy us, perhaps understanding them and developing empathy for them might lead us to conclude that in order to put them out of their misery, we need to defeat them and render them harmless to themselves and others. Sometimes it may mean total annihilation. At other times it might require just getting out of their way and letting them be with whatever ills we think may be afflicting them. At other times, it might call for extending ourselves in an attempt to reach out to them in reconciliation. We will not know what is their best welfare unless we take the time out to love, understand and empathize with them.

Jesus left us no room for excuses to not love our enemies as we mature. After all, loving our enemies and doing good to them (if nothing else) will heap up coals of fire on their heads. This might satisfy those of us who still feel a tiny bit of need to be vengeful when all is said and done.

“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” (Ro 12:20 AV)

References

Card, Orson Scot, (1985) . Ender’s Game. New York. Torr Books.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/97512-in-the-moment-when-i-truly-understand-my-enemy-understand

Learn more about love and Spiritual Maturity at

Sproul, Wendy. 2017.
March to Maturity: Grounded and Built.
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
North Charleston, South Carolina.