Interlude: Finding Release From Compulsive Disorders -- Part II
5-21-11
[This is a follow up to Finding Release From Compulsive Disorders]
*** SEAT WORK ***
Modern man does a lot of seat work.
- he sits for breakfast
- he sits in the car on the way to work
- he sits at a desk
- he sits at lunch
- he sits at a desk
- he sits in the car on the way home
- he sits on the couch
- he sits at the dinner table
- he lays down in the bed for a good (?) night's sleep.
As a man sits, he is focusing on something. If he works in an office, he may sit looking at his work all day (often just pushing papers and not producing anything except more paperwork (or data bits on the computer)). After work, he just wants to take off his shoes and "wind-down" in front of the television. He does not want to think, he just sits and receives whatever messages he chooses to tune into (I've read that the brain is less active watching television than when it is sleeping. I can remember when I used to watch it how I could spend hours and hours in front of it and I can remember changing channels to find something of interest. There just had to be something on besides re-runs--if not, at least there had to be a "good" re-run). In the process of this sedentary, trance-type lifestyle (where he is viewing the television and reading the newspaper and listening to the radio and going to the movies and talking to his co-workers about the same), he is not a whole thinking person. His thoughts are not really his own. He is like a blank slate on which the powers can write and to whom they can throw a few doggie treats like food, drink, naked movies, permission to sin, vacations, etc. Once the momentary pleasure is over, he continues in the sedentary, trance-type lifestyle looking for the next doggie treat--even it is an upcoming church event.
Throughout his childhood, modern man sits in a classroom all day (with homework at night). And then after he graduates from high school, he may go on to college to sit some more so he can get a "good" job. And then after that he goes on to a "professional" job where he sits in an office all day for the next 30-40 years waiting to receive a retirement check when he is old. Modern man is trapped in sitting. Because man has been gutted out of his manly powers and abilities, men, women, boys and girls are afflicted by what I'll call "industrial disorders" occur. This system of sitting and obfuscation gives rise to mental disorders--disorders that only seem to be increasing--disorders like panic attacks and ADD, obesity (eating far more than required for pleasure or to forget stress, etc.), anorexia, etc. I only speak as one who has been freed from this deplorable situation of being used as a blank slate and as one who is looking back to see what happened to me
and why certain things have helped me.
*** OUR BODIES NEED TO BE INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES ***
Our bodies need to be involved in our lives. I can remember considering Ecclesiastes 6:7, "All the labour of man is for his mouth..." I thought about the idea of working so that one could eat something. Most of us in America do not put forth too much labour to eat. With paper money and a pretty good paying job, man earns, while sitting down, money to feed himself. But the Bible says that all the labour of man is for his mouth. It occurred to me that man is to put forth effort into his existence. The fullness of bread and abundance of idleness were two of the sins of Sodom--
Ezekiel 16:49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.We have too much time on our hands. It seems readily apparent that we have paid a high a societal cost as we've tried to minimize manual labor. We have lost our skills and health and our children who we send to schools for 30 hours a week for sitting and brainwashing.
Our bodies need to be involved in our lives, and not just our minds. Our bodies need to do things that pertain to our basic needs. Although most of us now buy many (or most) of the things that we need, we can begin to look for ways to do "small" things for ourselves. I have found that completing needful projects is both physically and mentally stimulating and relaxing at the same time. The quietness of focused work takes the mind off of self and other things and puts it on things that need to be done. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;" I have seen the benefits of this in my life. Cathy O'Brien, a rescued MKULTRA victim said that one of the first things that her rescuer did for her was give her a watch. When she was rescured, she did not know who she was and she had to be brought back. Something as simple as knowing the time and how to do ordinary things can help bring people back. God sent me outside when I wasn't doing too well (as testified in Part I of this interlude) and I had useful tasks to focus on, the products of which I still enjoy to this day. The evil years can be productive years.
*** DAYTIME IS FOR WORKING ***
Sometimes I go to bed too late and I am tired the next day and may doze off as I am doing something. I wake up and say, "Nighttime is for sleeping," and I get back to moving. Daytime is for working. The sabbath day (the seventh day of the week--I am NOT a Seventh Day Adventist--keeping the sabbath is the fourth commandment) is for resting. If one must work at night, scheduling, of necessity, would be different.
*** IDEAS TO INVOLVE OUR BODIES IN OUR LIVES ***
It is important to have a mind to get up and get ready for a productive day. In the morning after presenting oneself before the Lord and praying and reading the scriptures, one can move--e.g., take an early morning walk. If this is not practicable, one can do calisthenics like stretching, jumping jacks, jogging in place, etc. or set up an interesting routine to complete (e.g., a set of exercises (equivalent to 100 jumping jacks) repeated to get the blood flowing). I find that 15-20 minutes of movement is enough--we began this practice after we found ourselves very sluggish and tired in the mornings. We began taking a brisk morning walk and performing at least one household task before going onward with school. This has worked very well for us. The remainder of the day also has its tasks. We can all look at the basics of life and try to do something small and useful to us (not junk projects, but something that can actually be used) like--
- straightening up our houses each day (will keep it from becoming a big mess): wiping down a bathroom, dusting, washing/folding/putting away clothes, reorganizing clutter cabinet or bookshelves, vacuuming, etc.
- growing a tomato plant in a good sized pot,
- making an oil lamp out of: an empty glass jar, olive oil, a piece of cotton string, and a thin piece of wire. It gives off a good deal of light and can be used in emergencies
- hand sewing a needed garment,
- cooking whole foods instead of something out of a box--take food out of the freezer in the morning (or the day before) and then come back later and season it well and cook it at the right time so that it is available well before bedtime, or take out leftovers and freshen them up with bread and a vegetable, etc.
- sewing mittens cut out from an old sweat shirt,
- tacking a quilt--it does not have to be fancy, it can be as simple as sewing together an old sheet and a thin blanket and them tacking them together in various spots
- make a denim skirt with an elastic or drawstring waist (the drawstring can be a single chain crocheted work),
- building simple a shelving unit using a few 2 x 4s on which to sit a few herbs in front of a sunny window,
- cooking dinner over a campfire or grill.
Useful work is a stress reliever and its resulting products are satisfying to use. This is how I seek to fulfil the command to do our own business and to work quietly with our own hands. Working is pleasant--and it is satisfying to children to complete projects as well. Tasks can be broken up into segments. If they are steadily worked on day after day--here a little, there a little--they are completed before long.
After doing this for a while (i.e., living the work lifestyle), I found that when I needed something, I would think about if I could make it (or approximate it and get the same functionality). The project may not win the beauty contest, but it works.
*** THE BEDRIDDEN ***
Those that are bedridden can also simulate these conditions given their unique needs, abilities, and situation--e.g. instead of a morning walk, perhaps the person (after asking the doctor's counsel) can move hands, arms (with or without a weight (like a canned food good)), feet, legs, etc. for a physical boost to get the blood flowing. The infirm can have a schedule and routine for things to do and perhaps can procure a plant (or plants) that they tend to. They may be called to labour in the word of God and in prayer in the midst of the times in which we live. They can tend to their basic needs, as much as possible, such as bathing, combing their hair, etc. Perhaps they can sit up and sew for themselves or someone in need. Perhaps they can go outside for 15 minutes a day and take in the sun (the best source of vitamin D) and air, or sit by an open window...
*** CONCLUSION ***
Embraced, the work lifestyle becomes an ingrained, delightful, habit. One lives a whole, productive, useful life going from one completed task to the next.
The Deliverance Series (Includes a link to the article, "Accidents." Life is more than just responding to the things around us--e.g., persons, thoughts, and memories. Life is more than just being acted upon by things outside of us--whether lusts, temptations, etc. For many Christians, the real you that is inside and calm with God is unknown and you are just constantly reacting to what is around you instead of being calm with God and judging the things that come your way.)