Get out of the way.

I’ve long been the queen of self-help. To some degree, I’ve been successful in helping myself by virtue of a regimen of constant reading and searching for answers to what I’ve perceived to be my many problems and utter lack of knowledge about how to resolve them. Problem is that self-help takes a lot of energy and when all is said and done, results in the accumulation of a handpicked storehouse of knowledge which may or may not be of the highest relevance and effectiveness primarily because, let’s face it, the person who amassed it didn’t know what she was doing to begin with. Do you see my point? It’s much like a mentally ill person diagnosing themselves and prescribing their own treatment. Not that I haven’t sought objective advice ever but even in that it was I who drove the process, fitting my choices into my already carefully constructed view of what constituted truth, justice, and the American way. Today the thought came to me, from on high I believe, that I should get out of the way, that essentially self-help is no help. I’m still struggling with that last part. In keeping with my desire for a more childlike (not childish, there’s a big difference) outlook on and approach to life, I should relinquish some of my habitual interference with the feeding and care of – me. Do normal, healthy children of good parents concern themselves constantly with these things or with the opportunities for growth and good progress that will be provided for them? No, they do not. They are busy playing. Play is their work and they work hard at it. Certainly they grow in their abilities and mature into big people who will eventually take their useful place in society. However, the manner in which they approach this new status will have everything to do with how successfully, in the fullest sense of that word, they will fulfill the position. Jesus, when questioned about who would be greatest in the kingdom of God, set a small child in the middle of the group as the answer. Interesting.

It’s a thought I want to pursue or perhaps more realistically, a directive to obey. It’s shouldn’t be that hard, should it? There’s probably a self-help book somewhere on the topic.