New Ideas: My Father's Temple

I have violence on the brain. I am a young adult, and have had my fill of it throughout life. Violence is simply a part of human culture, even though it's not supposed to be. It is our history and our ongoing present. It is watched on television, heard through music, and enacted digitally through video games. Admittedly, I have enjoyed all of these activities. I have probably been as physically violent as the average person, though far less so as I have aged. I am thoroughly entrenched in a world that cannot seem to escape the grip of violence, whether it is all too real, or simply worshiped through entertainment.

This aspect of society and human nature is not just an old necessity from early history that we have failed to shake off. It is a remnant of the Lucifer Rebellion and its lasting hold on this planet. It is a force that blinds us, granting the temporal illusion of power and strength. Its lingering existence will continue on while man remains ignorant of his relationship with all other humans and with God.

The human body is the Father's temple. It holds a fragment of the Father, and this fragment experiences all that the human personality does. As long as the Adjuster is present, one's body is a holy site which houses the divine. Even those without an Adjuster still hold the God-granted personality, so these bodies may still act as shrines erected by the Father, holding within them the most precious gift we have received. I do not mean that we should idolize the body, but to treat it with the respect it deserves.

I have written about violence a few times before. To me, it is pretty much any threat to any type of survival -- something necessary for properly functioning in this world. In summary, violence is a threat to a being's ability to thrive, and thriving includes quite a number of possibilities. Ultimately, violence on a human level represents man neglecting God's gifts and God's presence. It is an attack on the Father and the human He indwells. It is a rejection of the Father's will, for the Father cannot help an individual grow spiritually if the human's life or means of survival are on the line.

When a person truly understands the significance of these details, it is clear that hurting another is a direct act against God and a clear roadblock to spiritual perfection that must be dealt with over time. Hurting another becomes spiritual baggage that we carry. Receiving mercy does not remove this load, it just makes us strong enough to deal with the weight that we must slowly remove -- replacing misdeeds with good deeds that outweigh the negative mark we leave ourselves with.

Understanding the severity of violence requires one to understand the realm of potentials. I have written on potentials and actuals before, and it is a lesson that must be learned in order to understand the importance of God's will, free will and both willful and ignorant selfishness. The immense possibilities of the future are in the direct hands of each person. No environment is a vacuum. Even actions that affect no one else on a physical or mental level may have a spiritual impact down the road. One can slightly impact their environment, creating no observable influence in one lifetime, but can act as a small contributing factor to an event further in the future that is unforeseeable. Both positive and negative actions can create lasting change. This change may not be noticed, but its effects can last forever, soul death being a very serious example.

I wished to write about this topic of violence when I realized that I could care so little about fake violence, brutality and gore, but become incredibly distraught by the real thing. I realize now that there is such enormity to one cruel act because it is a lasting image of ungodliness, of barbarism, that impacts many in time. I realize now that seeing another injured, even from a wound he or she can heal from, is a form of vandalism against one of God's many temples and against one of His children which He cherishes deeply. I realize now that my empathy for other people extends down, not just to their personality, soul or Thought Adjuster, but to their very cells. I realize now that the remaining roots of the Lucifer Rebellion, which shall be uprooted from the earth, have clung onto things I came to enjoy. These things are all examples of my own imperfections (noticing them so late). They are examples of the poorer qualities of my race (many not noticing at all). However, I know that I shall be made anew, and hopefully then, I can put these troubles of temporal struggle behind me.

Analysis of the Self: Reducing Depression

I personally battled through depression while growing up, and I am almost convinced it is one of those things most battle as a teenager, alongside the swings between apathy and emotional outbursts. There are many possible reasons for depression, including a chemical imbalance in the brain that may only be dealt with using a certain medication. I am no psychiatrist, so I do not know what medicine is best under what circumstance, but I have an idea on how to deal with depression when it is based on one's personal experiences. This comes with a three-part solution: improving your thought process, emotional stability and physical health.


Thought Process:

One aspect of depression is the inability to reach goals, or the feeling of it at least (i.e. powerlessness). As the individual receives and perceives stimuli, there is an inner reaction of thought which takes the perception of stimuli and uses it to form goals for the self. When an individual reaches a state of goal formation, action is taken to get closer to reaching that goal. The action then creates new stimuli for the individual to receive and perceive. Stimuli can come from the said  individual directly, from another person or from the environment itself.

Improving the underlying thought process requires one to understand how they perceive stimuli and how this impacts their behavior. After knowing how the behavior is impacted, one can now observe if said behavior actually gets one closer to personal goals, short-term or long-term. One should also analyze the value of the goals, the steps to achieving them and the time needed to perform those steps. Reasons for depression include not having valuable goals and not having a clear method of attaining goals. Changing how one thinks and acts can fix the latter dilemma. The former issue requires one to look at their personal value system and decide what it means to have a satisfactory life. Goals should then be built around that model.

Emotional Stability:

Depression can act as a form of emotional instability, where the feelings of the self can contradict with experiences or the environment. Bipolar disorder (manic depression) may be seen as an intense form of this, but I do not have experience in this area. If one's personal situation or environment is negative, then they can act as the source of the depression, and fixing these issues (if possible) is the best method. If a contradiction is involved, meaning one is depressed when they shouldn’t be, then this is either a physical (chemical/hormonal), mental or spiritual problem. These issues are ailments of the present which are not influenced by present (outward) circumstances, but they may still be circumstantial in that they are impacted by past situations. Physical issues dealing with the brain itself can be improved with physical health, as mentioned in the last section. Mental problems can likely be improved using the advice in the first section. Spiritual problems will be explained next.

One source of depression (which I call a spiritual problem) is a lack of love, whether it is for the self, for others or from others. Loving the self requires self-forgiveness as well as balance. One should not reach for selfishness. Loving others is a form of spiritual connection between people, and is necessary for not only learning selflessness, but the joy of service as well. However, receiving love is needed at first in order to give/show love. Without a beginning source, an individual simply cannot learn how to properly use the heart, and perhaps not even the conscience. Opening yourself up to God's love is a solution, but is difficult for those who did not receive proper love from their parents. Finding a soulmate may help correct this issue, but romance itself is not what is needed. Another spiritual issue is a lack of perceived beauty, whether that beauty involves your inner/outer self, others, or once again, the environment you must function in. The last spiritual issue involves ones comprehension of truth. This is involved with the thought process mentioned above, and is rooted in a person's beliefs, ideals and morals. Depression could be caused by not measuring up to personal standards. It could be from not knowing the way to move forward. It could even be from not knowing what to believe.

Ultimately, improving emotional stability is about controlling your response to what you experience. There are two sides to this same coin: thought response and emotion response. One must understand what comes first – thought or emotion – and then focus on if the thought or emotion should be adjusted. Improving thoughts involves learning, planning and practice. Improving emotions involves searching for what causes the imbalance and fixing that imbalance. This may involve a lot of trial and error.

Physical Health:

This requires a combination of physical exercise and nutrition. Body mass may play a factor in the depression, but the point of exercise and a good diet is not meant to solely fix this issue. A healthy mind comes with a healthy body, and a healthy body requires a minimum amount of movement and balanced food. However, I am not a nutritionist, nor am I a physical education instructor, so you will have to do a little personal research.