Fyodor Dostoevsky told the story of the time he was arrested by the czar, and sentenced to die. The czar played a cruel psychological trick on people who rebelled against his regime by blindfolding them and standing them in front of a firing squad. They heard gunshots go off but felt nothing, then slowly realized the guns were loaded with blanks.
The emotional trauma that went with the process of dying, without experiencing death, had a transforming effect on people. It certainly had an incredible effect on Dostoevsky. He talked about waking up the morning of his mock execution with full assurance that that would be the last day of his life. As he ate his last meal, he savored every bite. Every breath of air he took with an awareness of how precious it was. Every face he saw that day he studied with intensity. He wanted every experience etched on his mind. As they marched him into the courtyard, he felt the sun beating down on him and he appreciated the warmth of the sun as never before. Everything around him seemed to have a magical quality to it. He was seeing the world as he had never been able to see it before. All of his senses were heightened. He was fully alive!
After his captors removed his blindfold and he realized he had not been shot, everything about him changed. He became grateful to people he had previously hated. He became thankful for everything about life, but especially for life itself. Dostoevsky claims that it was this experience that made him into a novelist and raised his sensitivities so that he could perceive dimensions of reality never known to him before.
The good news of the gospel is that we don’t have to go through such trauma in order to be wakened to the joys of life. People apart from the Holy Spirit are often described in the Bible as being asleep, but it also tells us that the work of the Holy Spirit is to wake us up to all that life is all about. In Romans 12:1, Paul tells us that we should approach life with our eyes wide open to the mercies of God. It is the Holy Spirit that opens our eyes to these mercies day in and day out.
Reflections & Ramblings that I pick up along this journey through life. www.drneilclayton.com
1 comment:
wonderful post. i've said for a long time perspective is the most important thing in life. it seems everything can be traced back to it (or lack of it) one way or the other. this weekend i received a good dose of perspective and a sharp lesson from God.
Carly, my wife, took a spill down a half-flight of stairs. Thankfully, she only had several light and one moderate injury. nothing that won't heal a couple of weeks. perspective about my marriage, my wife, and my day-to-day life came anazingly abruptly. gone were the oh-so-minor annoyances, and my shamefully self-centered mindset was shattered.
Carly's moderate injury was to her right elbow, which has prevented her from straightening or bending her arm for the past few days. as a result she has been unable to do some basic functions...like put her hair in a ponytail, write, etc. well, i now know how to put my wife's hair in a ponytail...and it only takes me 3 tries. i now know how to wash my wife's hair...and dry it. i didn't quite wash her feet, but i did clean the sand off of them and dry them after a walk on the beach two evenings ago...even between the toes. and in doing all of these things, and more, i've learned things about her i never knew. by these small acts of service, i realize i've strengthened our marriage and, hopefully, learned an entirely new way of life.
so, while i still get that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when i think about what MIGHT have happened, i live in appreciation of God for what HAS happened.
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