Dear People Whom God Loves,
We have been looking at us humans. Rather than saying “either/or” we are looking at us as angel and beast. We last looked at anger. We now look at:
Lust Lust, just like anger, is good. It also can lead us into behavior that is harmful. Part of our human journey is to become fully aware that our lust shows up in our actions, desires, and fantasies. Remember there is no morality in it. It is just there. It is part of the older parts of our brain…the brain stem and the limbic systems. Our capacity for morality comes from the newest part of our brain, the prefrontal cortex. The older parts influence the newer parts and the newer parts influence the older parts. The influence of the older parts contributes to our denial of their presence. We don’t want to face what is in us. That is why we repress these impulses into our unconscious. This can have the negative effect of making us emotionally cold or distant. This is why being aware is so important.
We must also be aware that the newer parts of our brain influence the older parts. That is why we have morality. This, in a large part, distinguishes us from dogs and cats. We need good neural connections between the prefrontal cortex and the older parts. Without that good neural connection between the prefrontal cortex and the older parts, our impulses, drives, and emotions run free with little guidance.
Thankfully, by becoming aware of our bodily feelings, our impulses, desires, and urges—as well as our thoughts, wishes, and fantasies—we build these connections. These various kinds of awareness—including centering prayer and mindful awareness—actually build new neurons and connections between the neurons.
This is why such practices build good morality from the inside. The transformation that takes place inside of us results in deeper morality because it allows our compassion to grow deeper and broader.
Imposition of morality from the outside has limited effectiveness. I realize that children need to be told what is good or bad, but we don’t want that to continue for the rest of our lives. I think that this was what Jesus was getting at when he called the Pharisees “whitened sepulchers.” I don’t mean to imply that all of the Pharisees were like that. But there were some who kept all the details of the law…but there was no compassion. Their hearts were hard and their eyes were blind. I think that Jesus was calling us to inner transformation that results in
good actions.
A little warning. As we become more and more aware of all that is inside of us, we will be scared and tempted to quit looking. The jungle is scary, but we need to journey through it while we are gradually entering the kingdom of God.
A final note about lust. When we are being human, we will be lustfully pure.
More next time.
Smile, God Loves You,
Father Clay
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