October 19, 2006 · 12:00 pm

Mindfulness


Over the last decade there has been increasing research on the beneficial effects of mindfulness on one’s mental state. Marsha Linehan’s research with a Borderline Personality Disorder population probably serves as the catalyst for much of today’s work. Today, you can read about mindfulness as an intervention with depression, anxiety, OCD, and eating disorders. Wikipedia describes mindfulness as: Mindfulness is the practice whereby a person is intentionally aware of his or her thoughts and actions in the present moment, non-judgmentally. Mindfulness is applied to both bodily actions and the mind’s own thoughts and feelings. I would define mindfulness as one part cognitive control, one part attitude, one part observation, and one part meditation. While Buddhists have probably claimed mindfulness as an essential part of their religious practice, mindfulness is essential to Christianity. 

When you think about it, we are constantly making assessments of what we feel, what we like, what we are experiencing. These judgments provide a constant feedback as to how we think about ourselves and our place in the world. But when we struggle with anxiety or depression, our feedback loops focus on certain kinds of “data” and overplay them. Then judgments become repetitions of what we already “know.” Example: my leg hurts today. I have a hard time focusing on other things because of the shooting pain. It is true that my leg hurts, but if I focus on other things (as well as the pain I notice) in an intentional way, my perception of pain is balanced with perceptions of other things around me. When we are able to practice this kind of attitude and cognitive control, we have the possibility of choosing, to some degree, what will be the center of our observations. And thus, mindfulness becomes a form of meditation.

Why does this work? It works because we take back control of our mind and have the possibility of thinking things other than our instant reactions. Is it any different from the Israelites hearing their history of being brought out of slavery while observing the difficulties of living in the desert and avoiding giving in to quick judgments that it would be better to go back to Egypt for the Leeks and Garlic?

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October 18, 2006 · 12:09 pm

The absurdity of sin: Calling garbage a delight


[Samaria] engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians–warriors clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted horsemen.  She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after.  She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust upon her. Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted.  They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and punishment was inflicted on her.
Her sister [Jerusalem] saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister.  She too lusted after the Assyrians–governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men.  I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way. But she carried her prostitution still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall, figures of Chaldeans portrayed in red, with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of Chaldea. As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.  When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled. Ezekiel 23:5-21

Everyone knows how insane it would be for a person to look fondly upon rape or sexual assault. And yet, this is exactly what we do when we savor lustful thoughts and secret sins. Unfortunately, we have amnesia just like Samaria and Jerusalem. Continue reading →

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October 17, 2006 · 11:17 am

America’s ugly history of Racism, part 2


I watched the next installment of the PBS special, Eyes on the Prize. The second hour focused on the conflict in Selma, Alabama where Black folk were not allowed to register and the ensuing brutality rained down on peaceful marchers by the police and politicians. What I find hard to take is the little interview segments with George Wallace, the mayor of Selma, and the head of police. I don’t know when those interviews were made but they look like they were made in the late 70s or early 80s given the style of clothing. Even then, it was clear that they didn’t get the harm of segregation. I wonder what we say in passing these days that someone will watch in 40 years and be as incredulous as I am now in watching these shows. Probably due to Political Correctness (which, by the way isn’t all bad), we have merely submerged what we really think and so its harder to get caught looking so out of touch with the world.

I’m left thinking that we take so for granted the freedom to say what we want and to march if we want without any real concern for our own safety. We need to thank those who were fearless in their willingness to march and take a beating, and even die.

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October 16, 2006 · 3:05 pm

The power of a careless word: a partial reprise to the Amish shooting post


Just thinking about how a few words said in passing can have the power to heal and/or hurt. I’ve talked previously how I think that naming things is part of the dominion God gave us over creation. We see it in Adam’s naming the animals as he saw fit. Of course, the Fall screws up our capacity to name things so that we call things good that are not, and we fail to name things that we ought. Counselors participate in this naming capacity because they often hold the power to name things going on beneath the surface. However, naming things too quickly or without enough concern for the impact is not helpful. Have you ever been hit with some “truth” by someone that blew you away? “And let me tell you another thing…!” Once, I told a friend something I thought God might be calling him to do (something he hadn’t planned on!). Some time later, he told me that when I said it, it wasn’t well received, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. While he came to agree with my perception over time, he hadn’t been ready to hear that. I’m not sure whether I should or shouldn’t have said it, but I do know that I was fairly unaware that a passing comment would be that powerful.

And, in relationship to my posts on the Amish shooting, I am realizing it is very easy to make a passing comment and in doing so, create pain in others. In my original post I took issue with a spokesperson who seemed to equate forgiveness with not being angry. I still take issue with that equation. However, it would be easy to think that I was saying that the forgiveness offered was not authentic. In taking issue with one person who represented one idea I made a comment that could be easily taken to dismiss an entire people group. I don’t think of me having that kind of power, and yet I do. We do. And the power can get in the way of more important conversations–in this case, forgiveness and emotions responding to great evil.

This kind of power gives me pause with my words. I needn’t avoid naming things but I need to be aware of and receptive to the conversations that will ensue. I need to be inviting others to take issue with me and to challenge my view on things. The redeeming factor is that we can be guaranteed that God will use our words to induce ongoing conversations about important issues in ours and others lives. 

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October 13, 2006 · 10:55 am

Anxiety and the non-use of Scripture in Counseling


During our day long faculty meeting, moderated by Pat Keifert from Luther Seminary, he mentioned an interesting bit of research he had done in the early 90s. His research on the use of the Bible in mainline churches found that when anxiety and distress rise, the positive use of the Scriptures decreases. Does that strike you as a little odd? Wouldn’t we find ourselves running to the Scriptures for comfort during times of anxiety?

Here’s an exerpt of his that describes the results of not having a positive use of the Scriptures during difficult times. You  can find the whole chapter here: http://www.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/20-4_Congregation/20-4_Keifert.pdf 

Within many mainline Protestant congregations this defensive stance toward fundamentalism and evangelicalism ends with little positive use of the Bible in the exercise of day-to-day Christian practices. This lack of a positive use of Scripturethreatens the existence of congregations when the anxiety within the congregational system rises. When tough issues relating to congregational life or ethics arise,the positive habits for the use of Scripture that remain in atrophied forms disappear and very dysfunctional patterns arise.

Many Christian counselors also fear looking like a fundamentalist who might use the bible to exhort or beat down someone with the “truth” (e.g., Its sin, stop it; Don’t be afraid). But our lack of using the Scriptures will cripple us and lead us to some distructive responses when we face troubles with our clients (e.g., being overly critical of church leadership, encouraging an easier way out of some kinds of troubles).

In our Christian psychology world, we do not do enough to argue for a better and more God-honoring use of Scripture in the face of trouble. We cannot allow the misuse of it by some to cause us to avoid it alltogether. If we do, we withhold comfort, hope, and direct connection to God from our clients.

 I’ve tried to give some examples of that in my how to use Scripture essay (link found on the bar to the right of this blog).

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October 12, 2006 · 8:48 am

Vocation: teachers as slaves?


Yesterday we had a day long faculty meeting discussing vocation, mission, etc. when I hear the word vocation, it does cause me to go blank. Yes, I know what the word means, but it sounds so much like “calling” which also gives me the same reaction. I know some have a deep abiding sense of what they are to be about. I, on the other hand, enjoy so many different things, that it feels like I can do any number of jobs within the psychology/pastoral care world. Our consultant upped the ante by calling us doctors of the church. He’s a Lutheran and maybe they have more mystery and pomp (and therefore titles) than do us free-floating evangelical congregationalists.

Our consultant did leave us with an interesting problem to chew on. Do we have the attitude of Jesus in Phil. 2, where we see ourselves as slaves to those we serve in teaching? If we did, how might that change our ways of teaching students who seem resistant to our ideas at first? Do we teach them the way we think they should learn? Or, do we teach them the way they do learn?

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October 11, 2006 · 7:00 am

The (not so) hidden cost of racism


Got my issue of the Journal of Counseling Psychology today. Had an article in it on the psychosocial cost of racism on White folk. Reminded me of some good work by Michael Emerson and his colleagues (click this link for more on him and his important work: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~soci/faculty/profile/emerson.html). He has detailed the hidden costs on minorities who choose to participate in multiracial churches. Definitely an eye-opener. But this work details the costs to white folk. We know that racism brings white folk benefits of white privilege but does it have a hidden cost? This work looks at how racism increases fear, guilt, shame, loss of connectivity, etc. What the work doesn’t detail (and I wouldn’t expect it to) is the cost to our sense and understanding of the Gospel. When a any group is mono-cultural, it loses its sense of need of other voices from other sectors of life who have rich understanding of how the Gospel has facets not often seen by that particular group. In the case of most white folk, we do not fear attack, rejection, suffering just because of their ethnicity or skin color. When the church faced these features, whether in the early church or in Jim Crow USA, how did the theologians and pastors express the character of the Gospel to their people? Do we White Americans care? 

I happen to be a Presbyterian, but Reformed theology from Europeans often lacks the focus on how God’s kingdom principles address community and corporate life (i.e., corporate sin, corporate justice). If we hope to spread the Gospel to a disenfranchised population, then we’d better find out what we have been missing all these years.

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Filed under Black and White, Racial Reconciliation

October 10, 2006 · 11:39 am

Our history of racism


Watched a segment of Eyes on the Prize on PBS last night. Shouldn’t have stayed up but couldn’t stop watching either. They were telling the stories of 1961-63 civil rights movement events in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. The freedom riders, those at Albany, Georgia, and those in Birmingham were telling their stories of nonviolent protest and the violent reactions (and non-responses) by local, city, state and federal officials. No matter how many times I’ve seen clips of Bull Conner or the governors of those states, it still sends chills up my spine to hear them spit such vitriol about Black folk. Sad too was the response of the white pastors who criticized King. If you haven’t read King’s response (letter from a Birmingham jail), you should.

We like to think we Americans are defenders of justice and democracy. But just 40 some years ago, my boys wouldn’t have been able to ride the bus to another state without being segregated. They wouldn’t have been able to sit at an integrated lunch counter. They couldn’t go to an integrated school. Frankly, we couldn’t be a family.

I’m thankful that they have not endured these things. I’m thankful that we can live in an integrated neighborhood and that they do not have visual reminders that their kind is not welcome. And yet, I worry about two things. First, I worry about the lax attitudes we now have about racial divides that still exist. Nobody is getting hit with a fire-hose on national TV, but have we really become integrated and willing to allow our churches, communities, and country to be led by Black leaders? On Sunday, my 6 year old asked, Why do so many brown people (like him) play football? Then he asked, Why aren’t brown people coaches? Only whites do that, right? Breaks my heart. Though I told him no, and rattled off some Black coaches, I also had to say some folk aren’t willing to tolerate a Black leader. Why Daddy? All I can say is I don’t know and it isn’t right.

Second worry. We think racism is just what happened in the south and that it isn’t a northern problem. While I love (love? That sounds weird) seeing these shows telling this important part of our country’s history, I think it takes our eyes off the prejudices that we have here in the North. Here’s one little example. When people ask me where my adopted kids are from (and only White people do this), they often show surprise when they learn they came from Chicago. My assumption is that they imagine the romantic idea that we saved them from some poor corner of Africa and brought them to the land of plenty. But, from Chicago? I suspect the idea hasn’t crossed their minds because dominant culture folk tend to not see what’s right under their nose and so Black folk remain invisible for the most part.

Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep last night–and I don’t think it was the coffee. 

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October 9, 2006 · 12:24 pm

The Psychology of Self-centered Christianity


Yesterday our church had a send off service for a church plant. Our long-time pastor and several elders are leaving to plant a church a few miles away. The pastor said something yesterday that reminded me of a thought I had some weeks ago. He quoted Tim Keller (pastor of a church in Manhattan) saying that we (American?) Christians have done a good job internalizing the positive benefits of salvation by grace alone but have not done so well in going out to find the lost. The heart of the Gospel is a going out (like Paul and Barnabas) to the lost. It is not primarily about holding on to good feelings. The church should not be a country club where we come to get away. Rather, it should be “boot camp” to prepare us to go out.

I think this shows up in the kinds of songs we sing for worship. A couple weeks ago I started noticing how many of the songs we sing are focused almost completely on thanking God for what he has done in my life, for his grace, forgiveness, love, etc. Singing about these things is great. But do we also sing songs that move us out? I suppose “Onward Christian Soldiers” might not be our first choice, but do we have any contemporary songs that would parallel that hymn’s focus? How about something similar in sentiment to the African American national anthem (Lift Every Voice and Sing)?

Maybe some of you readers could remind me of contemporary songs that are not so self focused…

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October 6, 2006 · 11:32 am

Seeing through the glass darkly


I’ve been thinking about how frequently counseling is conversations about the problem of distorted judgment. Its not surprising. Adam and Eve, prior to the fall, were dependent on God for instructions on how to live. Their sin was to reject that dependence and seek independent knowledge of good and evil. The result? We really have tendencies toward two extremes: Either we underestimate our own impact on others (our actions, flaws, character, etc.) or we overestimate our impact and character defects). 

Those who underestimate their flaws tend to correspondingly place blame on others for problems in their life. And while others do cause us problems, some of us have excellent deflecting capacity to present themselves as innocent of all guilt (or if they have any, its only just because someone else is making them act that way).
Those that overestimate their flaws tend to accept blame that is not their own. They feel guilty for other people’s negative feelings and experiences. And while there times when we hurt others and we ought to feel guilty for that, some folk feel guilty for any bad experience of another.

As a counselor, I too am infected with the same problem. Counselors can easily feel self-righteous, that we have objectivity when our poor counselors do not. My job is to attack my own distortions while desperately seeking the Spirit’s guide to help me help my clients discern what is real and true in their own lives.

What makes it hard is that our distortions are hard to challenge. We “know” what we know pretty firmly. Just like a client I had who swore his green van was purple (color-blindness), we tend to believe what we feel, regardless of the facts and opinions of many others.

God help us counselors–the blind trying to teach the blind to see.

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