Some people, by day four, have bailed.... seeing the incongruities and inconsistencies for what they are. Some, like myself, are so hungry for answers that it doesn't matter that things aren't adding up. By this time you are hearing Bill Gothard's inflectionless, metronomic voice wax eloquently in your sleep (sometimes to wake and find yourself still at the seminar). You're talking to your seatmates about how revolutionary these concepts are and wondering why you didn't find them all the times you read the Bible. You have begun to question the things you were previously taught as well as the things you have discovered on your own that don't agree with this one seminar, and you are praising God that He has lifted up such a mighty man of God to teach you these truths...and then the evenings session begins.
It occurs to me as I am writing this, that after day two I may have the order of subjects a little mixed up. I haven't attended a Basic Seminar in years, but the impressions made at that young age have been indelible.
Today we deal with the Principle of Suffering. Day in and day out people ask the same question..."Why do bad things happen to good people?" Today is the day that Mr. Gothard wraps the answer to that question into a tidy little package and with his characteristic grin and monotone delivers this message: "Suffering...is...allowing the hurts of others...to reveal..."blind spots"...in my own life...and then...seeing...how I can benefit...their lives... ... ...fully...forgiving...offenders... brings genuine joy."
Soooo, here is this teacher encouraging people to find the good in their circumstances(which in and of itself is awesome, by the way) while quietly insinuating that the circumstance is entirely their fault because they haven't fully forgiven some unnamed person in their past, for some offense, real or imagined.
What happens when a child, or adult for that matter, is in an abusive situation? When a parent,guardian or "trusted authority" is physically, emotionally, verbally or sexually abusive? I personally know several people who asked Mr. Gothard this very question, not as a hypothetical, but because they were being abused. In each and every case the victim was instructed to 1)reain under that authority, 2)forgive the abuser and 3) not talk about the situation. These MINORS were not encouraged to go to the police, nor were the abusers reported to the police. The victims were instructed to serve these abusive people with a smile so that the abuser would be led to Christ...and when things didn't change positively in their lives, they were asked what THEY were bitter about or where they were out from under authority or some similar question.
Coming from an institution that molds abusers and victims faster than Sarumon can conjure a new batch of beasties, I have to think very carefully and with great detatchment to find the kernel of truth here. The language that I learned this lesson in doesn't suit, laymans terms seems to offer a more fitting translation...
SHIT HAPPENS! It happens to good people and bad, to pretty people and the ugly, to passionate people and to indifferent people as well...HOW you see the SHIT determines how you USE the SHIT... it can either be that smelly substance that gets ground into your carpet, or you can put it around your rose bushes and grow prize winning flowers...Its up to you, but you WILL deal with it one way or the other.
Yep, pretty much the only good from this principle is that you can turn a bad situation into a good one (or at least a better one) by the way that you handle it.
No comments:
Post a Comment