Don’t Face Life Alone?
Recently, I had the opportunity to see two wonderful individuals commit themselves to each other in marriage. At the risk of being cliché, they were made for each other. As individuals they both were strong, smart, and loving. Together they are something more. They are confident; they are caring, and they are fearless. They know that they can tackle problems together that had seemed overwhelming when they were apart.
So, why bring this up now? It makes one consider the never-ending series of self-love quotes that seem so empowering on the surface but are devastating when one considers what they really mean: tackling life alone.
Have you heard any of these?
“Follow your heart, listen to your inner voice. Stop caring what others think.” – Roy T. Bennett;
“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.” – Allen Ginsberg; or
“Don’t compromise yourself – you’re all you have.”–John Grisham.
They are just a few examples among the hundreds of so-called, inspirational sayings pummeling us each time we peruse our favorite bookstores or social media sites. They sound good, wise, and harmless.
But are they? The next time you read or hear one of these quotes, ask yourself if it challenges you to be better or limits you to looking only internally for guidance, strength, and comfort. Unfortunately, they are spoon fed to us as examples of “wisdom” and appear to suggest that we have within each of us everything we need to tackle life. We don’t.
These sayings have become at best, trite, and at worst, damning. They provide a constant message of personal strength and knowledge that may sound good and, on the surface, suggest personal accountability, but it is all an illusion. They fail to acknowledge that at some point in our lives we will all find a need to lean on others. But their message and premise are clear: to be worthy, we need only to look internally for comfort and support. The corollary is that we should be ashamed when we need others. Though it may be seductive to think we have everything within ourselves to be successful and happy, consider how important it has been for you to lean on others.
We are human. We have frailties. We’re not God.
To ignore this is to relegate ourselves to a lonely world of unnecessary stress, pain, and anguish. Don’t let it happen.
And where is God in this? Never forget that God will always be there when you and I need Him. We can certainly lean on Him, and I have no doubt he will carry us at some time in our lives. Never allow hubris to fool you into thinking that you don’t need Him; you do. His strength will make even your hardest days more bearable. That’s not to say that our faith in God makes problems disappear. They won’t, but we can trust that He will provide the strength to persevere.
So back to these messages of personal inspiration - when they separate us from others’ love and support, they isolate and weaken us. When they fail to acknowledge God, they become evil — fooling us into walking away from the One who loves us above all others and Whose power is boundless. They make us easy pray for the Devil.
