The thing which must be understood about the common malfunctioning human survival responses and the ego-mind-identity (EMI) which it produces is that it is not the enemy, it is not "Evil" or really malicious in any way. It's malfunctioning, but it's not trying to be evil or wrong, in fact, just the opposite. It's just not working right. The brain (and the EMI it produces) is doing the best that it can under the circumstances to keep everything running, safe, and functional like it was designed to, but it's trying to operate with some parts of its processing hardware that aren't formed according to the original design specifications, namely the amygdala and the hypothalamus. This results in errors no matter how well intentioned the brain's "operating system" is trying to be with regards to the body and person it's trying to keep operational.
It's important to understand this in order to treat this malfunctioning system, both our own and that of others, with compassion. It's producing fear and anger responses because it believes the body or EMI to be under threat, and thus its core programming is to keep it safe. It's committing errors in so doing, but the basic programming is trying to be beneficial as it produces the fight, flight, or bodily craving responses.
Imagine if you will a robot on a factory line. That robot is built to certain specifications regarding perhaps the length of its arm and the angle of its tool, and so on. Well, what happens if the robot's tool suddenly goes out of alignment? Let's say that tool is a cutting torch. Under normal operation, it cuts off a specific piece of metal in a precision way in order for the part on the line to fit perfectly into a larger machine. But if the cutting torch is out of alignment, even by a fraction, instead of doing its job and being constructive, it becomes destructive to every piece which passes it. The robot does not know this. If robots could think, it would think it was following its programming to the letter and continue to use its torch believing that it was doing what it was designed to do. The same is true of the malfunctioning survival response system, and the EMI it produces, within the human brain. It's committing egregious errors, but continues to believe its following what it was designed to do.
Responding to the EMI with fear, anger, or hatred only reinforces the error because these responses originate from the same malfunctioning part of the brain as the EMI. Rather than repairing it, it entrenches it. In order to truly treat and care for this malfunction, these parts must be treated with understanding and compassion even as they are set aside and bypassed by cooperation with the Spirit of Christ. One must love one's EMI even as one must let it go and disengage from it.
For the disciple of Jesus Christ, we need to watch ourselves and be very careful to not treat our malfunctioning responses with anger or fear, as disturbing as they can be sometimes, but with compassion, mercy, and lovingkindness as the EMI is literally doing the best it can under the circumstances; and when we realize that it is the EMI that is responding with fear, anger, or bodily cravings to say, "it's okay, I understand, but it's time to step aside now and let the Spirit of Christ resume control again." And to do this, not with just ourselves, but with everyone else as well.
As Jesus taught us, if the malfunctioning brain and the EMI is our enemy, then our first response is to love our enemy.
No comments:
Post a Comment