The Love to Change

People can and do change, but it't not so glamorous, romantic and spontaneous as movies and books often make it seem. It isn't easy and it isn't always pretty but, as Clark discusses in this week's article, Jesus provided us with many examples and many tools that we need in order to change and grow into our "authentic" selves. Even if that change is so slow it isn't completed in this world. -Editor.

The movie “Fifty Shades of Grey” was recently released. While it may seem to be an excellent study of human nature, I will not go see it because any message about positive human change will be quite obscured by the salacious content. The message will be completely missed by most viewers who only want to be titillated (yes that is a word. Go look it up!).

The Word is full of examples of how humans change. Sadly, we are not shown very many examples of it in the various forms of media these days. There are many movies that purport to show how a person learns a lesson about their humanity through experiencing their depravity. While such a book or movie may be an excellent study of human nature, any message about human change is hidden from most readers and viewers who only want to be voyeurs. There are a number of movies that more accurately and appropriately reveal the mechanism of change in human beings. They are not as viscerally exciting because they portray how change really happens: human change is a process that begins within the individual human spirit, when God’s love and wisdom are voluntarily brought to support an individual’s motivation, thought, speech and act.

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“Forgive Them, For They Know Not What They Do”

Clark examines the story of Jesus' crucifixion as a powerful example of forgiveness. He outlines ways that we can take this example and apply it to our daily interactions, becoming wiser, more spiritual people through accepting and offering real forgiveness. -Editor.

I invite you to consider the emotional, psychological, and spiritual benefit of forgiving someone who has wronged you. A small slight we can easily overlook. We do not feel upset about it. We continue on in our life without much thought about it. Like someone bumping into us in a crowd. They might turn and say “Sorry,” but they might not. Our delight in whatever we are doing at that moment is not diminished by the wrong done to us. If we think about it at all, the thought likely is “They didn't know they did that.”

When we are wronged in a more significant way, we feel it, and our thinking is taken over by it. Our delight in what is right in front of us is no longer noticed. Our attention is drawn away from the good tasting food, or the beautiful scenery, or the enriching conversation. We are thinking about the person and what they did to us, rather than thinking about what is happening in the present moment. So forgiving them involves letting go of the upset and returning our attention to what is delighting us. And it involves not thinking about the person or their affront, and replacing those thoughts with thoughts about the present moment and our enjoyment of it. And we may conclude, as we make this mental effort, that the person didn't realize that what they did was going to hurt us.

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