If the devil were to encounter Eve in the....Olive Garden (?) today, he wouldn't promise her that she would be like God, knowing good and evil. He'd promise her that she'd never feel shame. And that apple fritter would be GOBBLED down.
It's no secret how we find ourselves face down in a gutter full of vomit. After facing down the existential threat of communism, the US handed the keys to the kingdom to a shameless, power-hungry, immoral grifter and her worthless husband Bill.
Decorum and dignity vanished from their oily wake, never to be seen again.
Feeling shame for the "wrongs" we have committed is appropriate. There is no more important work than allowing the true Divine Light (not false-white-light) to wash over and through our being to expose those "wrongs" in order to become "right" again, in alignment with Natural Law. I like to call it The Refinery of Consciousness, a term coined by my friend Aurora.
A note about shaming others: I agree with you here as well that there is an element of righteousness which must be carefully employed in order to hold a mirror to our fellow mankind. However, it usually backfires in the moment because of cognitive dissonance which urges the person to recoil and yell "Pot calling the kettle black!" So, as painful as it is to watch the world become an even more twisted version of "The Maury Povich Show," I think it is all a necessary process of the apocalypse, the great unveiling of evil. Most people will *eventually* real-eyes the deception which caused their wrongdoings, even if that is — sadly too late — on their deathbed.
My mother, despite her serious, problematic "envy" issue, had the wisdom to frequently tell me to "do some soul-searching" from a very young age. She never defined "soul-searching," I simply intuited the process. This is lost in the Luciferian light-shows that are a constant source of distraction for viewers and the source of big money and false power for the deceptive producers of such evil works.
Great essay! What you described about the talk shows and their audiences reminded me of the "Juice by Tappy" scenes in "Requiem for a Dream." That movie has lost none of its terrifying power since it was made in the late 90s!
Definitely in the 90s, all the symptoms were there of a deadly cultural rot. To compare America to a crackhead (great video you embedded, by the way), the 90s were when America occasionally did cocaine at parties or on Vegas vacations, but the rest of the time things mostly still worked the way they were supposed to; the 2000s were when America's coke habit got so bad it started really messing up the money, so she had to do some shady accounting schemes to cover the bills some months; the 2010s were when America went from powder to rocks and started smoking pretty much every day, and she wound up getting arrested a few times and had to mortgage everything to pay her legal bills; and now in the 2020s, America's crack addiction has her in a homeless shelter, with ruined health and a future of whoring herself out for drug money. I suppose for an addict at that late stage, shame has been so deadened, that it's practically nonexistent. All that's left is for America to hit rock bottom.
"For those of you who encouraged the spending, all that’s left is to cross a few T’s, which look like raging Rubicons to the rest of us. And yet that bill is swiftly coming due."
The searing of our conscious occurs when we turn away from looking at our shameful selves. Over time this accrues, and then very bad things indeed happen to us and through us. As a culture we now appear be at, or approaching the zenith of the lack of this much needed and yet currently maligned state of being in many.
Fortunately, those of us whose shame meter is still operational can and should bring before God those for whom it is broken, while it is still possible to do so. It is part of the system God created for believers, that through prayer we can be advocates for those who still bear the great burden of their sin and shame. Just because they’ve deadened themselves to seeing it and or/feeling it does not mean it has been erased or ceased to be. Your grief in your retelling of those hapless people enacting and watching the parade of shamelessness in that study room in years past Mark is very much a prayerful state of grief on their behalf. May it bring forth some good fruit in the lives of those involved.
I try to read a Spurgeon devotional each day. I knew he had touched upon this theme of shame and what it’s lack means. May the Lord always keep our conscience and hearts tender and open to His call.
Where art Thou?
Shame is an inherently negative thing. Charles Spurgeon rightly viewed shame as a direct effect of the fall. There was no shame in the Garden of Eden until sin entered it, and with sin came shame. Spurgeon, addressing his congregation as though they were Adam, highlights the shamefulness of the fall of man. Whereas before they had “preferment,” now they have “disgrace.” Instead of “the clothing of angels,” now they are “naked.” Instead of “glory,” now they have “shame,” and in this moment Spurgeon asks “Adam, where art thou?” Or, more pointedly, “sinner, where art thou?” And while our historic parents reached for fig leaves we too often “try to bury [ourselves] in [our] business, so as to forget that urgent enquiry…. Where art thou?”
Shame is so abhorrent “to man that it is one of the ingredients of hell itself,” indeed “one of the bitterest drops in that awful cup of misery.” Human nature is such that we will do whatever is in our power to cover up our shame. However, there is nothing that will suffice except for that work which unfolded from Gethsemane to Golgotha. Only when Christ “covers you with the garments of salvation” can shame be taken away, for Christ is the Redeemer. He redeems humanity, and in His infinite power He has redeemed shame itself. What was once “one of the ingredients of hell” is now a tool in the hands of the Holy Spirit to guide men to repentance. Accordingly, Spurgeon believed, “Where the poor broken-hearted sinner lies prostrate in the dust,” that is where Christ “comes in his glory and majesty, and says to him, ‘I am thy salvation…and laid down my life that I might save thee.’” Truly, no one would be able to “see Christ in his glory and majesty” unless “you have first seen yourself in your degradation and shame.”
If the devil were to encounter Eve in the....Olive Garden (?) today, he wouldn't promise her that she would be like God, knowing good and evil. He'd promise her that she'd never feel shame. And that apple fritter would be GOBBLED down.
It's no secret how we find ourselves face down in a gutter full of vomit. After facing down the existential threat of communism, the US handed the keys to the kingdom to a shameless, power-hungry, immoral grifter and her worthless husband Bill.
Decorum and dignity vanished from their oily wake, never to be seen again.
Feeling shame for the "wrongs" we have committed is appropriate. There is no more important work than allowing the true Divine Light (not false-white-light) to wash over and through our being to expose those "wrongs" in order to become "right" again, in alignment with Natural Law. I like to call it The Refinery of Consciousness, a term coined by my friend Aurora.
A note about shaming others: I agree with you here as well that there is an element of righteousness which must be carefully employed in order to hold a mirror to our fellow mankind. However, it usually backfires in the moment because of cognitive dissonance which urges the person to recoil and yell "Pot calling the kettle black!" So, as painful as it is to watch the world become an even more twisted version of "The Maury Povich Show," I think it is all a necessary process of the apocalypse, the great unveiling of evil. Most people will *eventually* real-eyes the deception which caused their wrongdoings, even if that is — sadly too late — on their deathbed.
My mother, despite her serious, problematic "envy" issue, had the wisdom to frequently tell me to "do some soul-searching" from a very young age. She never defined "soul-searching," I simply intuited the process. This is lost in the Luciferian light-shows that are a constant source of distraction for viewers and the source of big money and false power for the deceptive producers of such evil works.
Great essay! What you described about the talk shows and their audiences reminded me of the "Juice by Tappy" scenes in "Requiem for a Dream." That movie has lost none of its terrifying power since it was made in the late 90s!
Definitely in the 90s, all the symptoms were there of a deadly cultural rot. To compare America to a crackhead (great video you embedded, by the way), the 90s were when America occasionally did cocaine at parties or on Vegas vacations, but the rest of the time things mostly still worked the way they were supposed to; the 2000s were when America's coke habit got so bad it started really messing up the money, so she had to do some shady accounting schemes to cover the bills some months; the 2010s were when America went from powder to rocks and started smoking pretty much every day, and she wound up getting arrested a few times and had to mortgage everything to pay her legal bills; and now in the 2020s, America's crack addiction has her in a homeless shelter, with ruined health and a future of whoring herself out for drug money. I suppose for an addict at that late stage, shame has been so deadened, that it's practically nonexistent. All that's left is for America to hit rock bottom.
"For those of you who encouraged the spending, all that’s left is to cross a few T’s, which look like raging Rubicons to the rest of us. And yet that bill is swiftly coming due."
Such a great line!
Don't go shame, papa needs you.
Hunger will be the great leveler, the only awakeneeeen for the emotionally broke.
Yes, this!
The searing of our conscious occurs when we turn away from looking at our shameful selves. Over time this accrues, and then very bad things indeed happen to us and through us. As a culture we now appear be at, or approaching the zenith of the lack of this much needed and yet currently maligned state of being in many.
Fortunately, those of us whose shame meter is still operational can and should bring before God those for whom it is broken, while it is still possible to do so. It is part of the system God created for believers, that through prayer we can be advocates for those who still bear the great burden of their sin and shame. Just because they’ve deadened themselves to seeing it and or/feeling it does not mean it has been erased or ceased to be. Your grief in your retelling of those hapless people enacting and watching the parade of shamelessness in that study room in years past Mark is very much a prayerful state of grief on their behalf. May it bring forth some good fruit in the lives of those involved.
I try to read a Spurgeon devotional each day. I knew he had touched upon this theme of shame and what it’s lack means. May the Lord always keep our conscience and hearts tender and open to His call.
Where art Thou?
Shame is an inherently negative thing. Charles Spurgeon rightly viewed shame as a direct effect of the fall. There was no shame in the Garden of Eden until sin entered it, and with sin came shame. Spurgeon, addressing his congregation as though they were Adam, highlights the shamefulness of the fall of man. Whereas before they had “preferment,” now they have “disgrace.” Instead of “the clothing of angels,” now they are “naked.” Instead of “glory,” now they have “shame,” and in this moment Spurgeon asks “Adam, where art thou?” Or, more pointedly, “sinner, where art thou?” And while our historic parents reached for fig leaves we too often “try to bury [ourselves] in [our] business, so as to forget that urgent enquiry…. Where art thou?”
Shame is so abhorrent “to man that it is one of the ingredients of hell itself,” indeed “one of the bitterest drops in that awful cup of misery.” Human nature is such that we will do whatever is in our power to cover up our shame. However, there is nothing that will suffice except for that work which unfolded from Gethsemane to Golgotha. Only when Christ “covers you with the garments of salvation” can shame be taken away, for Christ is the Redeemer. He redeems humanity, and in His infinite power He has redeemed shame itself. What was once “one of the ingredients of hell” is now a tool in the hands of the Holy Spirit to guide men to repentance. Accordingly, Spurgeon believed, “Where the poor broken-hearted sinner lies prostrate in the dust,” that is where Christ “comes in his glory and majesty, and says to him, ‘I am thy salvation…and laid down my life that I might save thee.’” Truly, no one would be able to “see Christ in his glory and majesty” unless “you have first seen yourself in your degradation and shame.”
XVIII c. sage Samuel Johnson aka Dr Johnson had a rhyming take 😊
🗨 Shame arises from the fear of men, conscience from the fear of God.
Would you not say that cancel culture's whole schtick is public shaming?