{"id":34120,"date":"2023-11-14T18:23:28","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T02:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=34120"},"modified":"2023-11-14T18:23:28","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T02:23:28","slug":"holding-the-hand-of-the-devil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/holding-the-hand-of-the-devil\/","title":{"rendered":"Holding the Hand of the Devil"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, my husband, Brad, and I had dinner with a friend who moved out of state during the Pandemic. \u00a0Mark sat across the table from us seemingly more at peace than the last time we saw him. \u00a0He caught us up on his new job, his wife and three children. \u00a0Because I keep in fairly close contact with his wife, I knew he recently converted to Eastern Orthodoxy after leaving a mainline church. \u00a0The pictures his wife sent me were filled with gorgeous cathedral-like archways, priests in long robes with extraordinarily large crosses hanging on their chests and bright colored icons in every corner. \u00a0What we hadn\u2019t heard yet and eager to know was why he converted\u2013after all, Mark was already a committed Christian who is one of the smartest and most creative guys I know. What more did he want? Or need?<\/span><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for Mark to explain how joining the Eastern Orthodox Church changed his daily life. Every Friday night for Vespers he attends confession where he meets with his priest; each Sunday morning he stands for 2-3 hours worshiping through liturgy, genuflecting before icons and kissing paintings. The small congregation then share a prepared meal together after services. Mark\u2019s family have also decided to become members. What Mark believed about God really hadn\u2019t changed. \u00a0The question burning inside me finally came out, \u201cMark, what part of your story am I missing? I\u2019ve not known you to need so much structure around your faith journey.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPam, have I not told you and Brad about the times I lost complete control of my body and felt paralyzed? After days of testing, the doctors diagnosed me with panic attacks. Since joining the church, I\u2019ve experienced divine moments of peace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Suddenly, I saw in my mind\u2019s eyes how belief and story merge. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Mark described the darkness\/extreme anxiety he experienced the year prior, the reasons became clear as to why our friend converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. \u00a0 What Mark really discovered was the Magic. \u00a0Or, as George Mason University Professor, Dr. Daniel Lieberman defines it, \u201cWhen something extraordinary happens that\u2019s different from our ordinary state of consciousness.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 In\u00a0Spellbound\u00a0<\/span>written by\u00a0Lieberman, I learned how our subconscious tells us our stories and that, \u201cUniting the conscious and the unconscious is the process of individuation. . . \u201c \u00a0After our time with Mark and reading this week\u2019s reading, I wondered if religion is a way for us to not completely deny our dark side but also to not completely give into it? \u00a0I could not deny Mark\u2019s story of dissatisfaction, darkness and the suffering he experienced on his journey. Like Campbell\u2019s\u00a0Hero of a Thousand Faces,<\/span>\u00a0there was nothing our friend could do except, \u201cBe crucified and resurrected, dismembered totally and then reborn.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Three Truths I Am Unearthing from our Stories<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Individuation:<\/strong><\/span> Integrating and Communicating the Ego with the Unconscious.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The cultural innovation of \u201cidentity\u201d began in social psychology. \u00a0In 1958 the term \u201cIdentity crisis\u201d was introduced to Americans by psychologist Erik Erikson to describe a typical phase in human development.[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 According to Robert Putnam the new term resonated widely in an America where millions of young people craved independence and sought to craft a personal identity. \u00a0The term identity rapidly became an important theme in American culture. In fact, the frequency of the word \u201cidentity\u201d in American literature increased more than five-fold over the second half of the twentieth century.[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0What is the connection to identity and our stories?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Lieberman writes that, \u201cBecoming whole is perhaps the most important thing we do in life.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0As I asked my friend specific questions like, \u201cWhat was your first reaction to having confession every Friday night with your priest?\u201d Mark talked about his experience from a deep place of feeling allowing us to see his genuine spiritual or divine experience. \u00a0He told us how often he self corrected when he felt like being mean toward others, knowing his confession was on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

That conversation returned clearly to me when I read in Chapter two: \u201cIt\u2019s only the combination of consciousness with unconsciousness that leads to individuality.\u201d In Mark\u2019s identity journey, he faced his instinctual forces without becoming overwhelmed by them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Numinous:Having Strong Religious or Spiritual Quality – Indicating Divinity.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If I am following Lieberman\u2019s theory, he says that stories, identifying with characters, plays a complex part in us experiencing a fulfilling life. How does this actually happen? It can happen during encounters with the numinous. \u00a0What helps me understand numinous is what Jung calls archetypes or the bones of what gives structure to the stories we tell ourselves.[6]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 In communications studies, we call this schemata\u2013memories we file away. Perhaps the icons and paintings provide a kind of identification for Eastern Orthodox Christians. \u00a0It\u2019s here where I fully believe we can have strong spiritual experiences with either Angels or Demons. Not unlike Bono\u2019s ache when he sings,\u00a0\u201cI have spoke with the tongue of angels. I have held the hand of the devil.<\/span>\u201d[7]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 Like any well researched book, Lieberman quotes a Jungian psychologist who warns that having these kinds of spiritual experiences one can lose touch with reality.[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Transcendence: To Go Beyond.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Now we are getting to our purpose. It\u2019s been a few weeks since we sat with our friend at the restaurant; I think about his conversion or his self-differentiation[9]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0often. Lieberman writes, \u201cThe purpose of life is to become your true self.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/sup> Again, I wonder if religion is a way for us to not completely deny our dark side but also to not completely give into it? Is this how we become our true self? I think that happened for my friend, Mark. \u00a0Might Lieberman\u2019s words about transcendence be likened to Friedman\u2019s universal phenomenon on having the capacity to get out of our emotional climate? I realize it\u2019s much more than that; however, transcendence is risky and it\u2019s rooted in relationship and reality. The journey of becoming our true selves can happen through individuation, numinous and transcendence\u2013it\u2019s inspiration that brings about fundamental change. At the end of the day, our books and readings are all just walking us safely home and Dr. Daniel Lieberman has inspired me to look down to see if I am holding the hand of a devil and to look up to listen if I am speaking with the tongue of an angel. \u00a0What about you?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0Lieberman, Daniel MD,\u00a0<\/span>Spellbound<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0Campbell, Joseph.\u201cThe Hero With A Thousand Faces: p. 17<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[3]<\/a>\u00a0Erikson, \u201cYoung Man Luther; a Study in Psychoanalysis and History.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[4]<\/a>\u00a0Putnam, Robert. \u201cThe Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again: \u00a0p. 192 Figure 5.8<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[5]<\/a>\u00a0Lieberman, Daniel MD,\u00a0<\/span>Spellbound<\/span>. p.96<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[6]<\/a>\u00a0Lieberman, Daniel MD. Spellbound. p.99.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0U2.\u00a0<\/span>I Still haven\u2019t Found What I am Looking for.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[8]<\/a>\u00a0Hannah, Barbara. \u201cSome Remarks on Active Imagination.\u201d Spring (1953): 38-58.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[9]<\/a>\u00a0Friedman,\u00a0<\/span>A Failure of Nerve<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[10]<\/a>\u00a0Lieberman. p.99<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, my husband, Brad, and I had dinner with a friend who moved out of state during the Pandemic. \u00a0Mark sat across the table from us seemingly more at peace than the last time we saw him. \u00a0He caught us up on his new job, his wife and three children. \u00a0Because I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2816,2918,2626,2665,2580,2921,2919,2899,2920,180],"class_list":["post-34120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ai-dlgp02","tag-daniellieberman","tag-dlgp02-friedman","tag-dlgp02-kahneman","tag-heroinesjourney","tag-istillhaventfoundwhatimlookingfor","tag-magic","tag-spellbound","tag-transcendence","tag-u2","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34121,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34120\/revisions\/34121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}