When one confronts head on the system of a madness, on its own terms, one may find he cannot win. He might, instead, strive to break free of the system itself. For sometimes, we feed it by fighting against it; it is a phenomenon spoken of before. Philip K. Dick put it, “To fight the empire is to be infected by its derangement.” And there is the famous quote by Borges: “To refute him is to become contaminated with unreality.” It is perhaps often unwise to combat the madness on its own terms, not the least of which reason being that the terms are most unfair. Sometimes we must not yield an iota — of whatever we are able to hold onto — to the clutches of the invisible demon, whose system is as an incalculable machine. Sometimes, we must outparadigm the paradigms gone awry; but if we find we cannot (we are not supermen, after all) one might, as an addict would, rely on a higher power. Prayer: the last refuge of the hopeless, as it were. One may find such assistance is ready to aid, if one merely choose to believe. And find, too, the madness most fragile to a larger voice.
Anonymous
8:29pm wednesday, 2nd february
I have been dealing with the madness(Schizophrenia) for 7yrs.In those 7yrs I have meditated for almost all day everyday,so now I can go the whole day without any thought of my own if I choose.(Monks etc, pray and meditate in silence,but I feel if you meditate while working,dealing with the outside,etc you can achieve a higher understanding,Kinda like lifting weights,The more stress thats applied the more results.But my whole theory is this,I would damn sure trade a couple days of torture and hung on a cross than dealing with this bullshit,I feel God needs to get off his or her ass,and stop hiding behind that little shield and put an end to the nonsense of this world.In otherwords GROW-UP!
Anonymous
9:31pm thursday, 3rd february
Throughout history humans have had to hold onto the idea that God is great, God is good,perfect, etc, etc,but the fact remains,..... Evil just didn't pop outta the sky oneday.
Stand
2:38am friday, 4th february
I'm sorry you feel that way. Myself, I could not have made it this far without God & Jesus. I don't really want to get into an argument about the problem of evil, but let me just say that I have reconciled myself with my suffering and the goodness of God. Just note that people have felt greater pain than we ever will, and have kept faith, nonetheless. Let's just agree to disagree on what the big Why may be.
Strawberry
12:37pm friday, 4th february
An elegant response. He is angry, but under that emotion is a lot of pain.
I did not know the Borges quote but I am going to remember it. And it's been about ten years since I've read Borges, now I want to go back and read him again. Do you happen to know the name of the essay/book that the quote came from?
I tell people that I have to respect my schizophrenia. I have learned that my mind is my friend, not my enemy, and I will not wage a war on a biological fact. Over time it became a paradox; the more I respected the limits imposed on me by my illness, the more freedom I was given to create a safe world free from the effects of schizophrenia. If I spend a lot of time hating my illness then that illness has the power to weaken me. I choose not to hate the times when my mind is disorganized by symptoms, but instead to love the times when it is clear and I have the ability to work hard.
For me it is reaching a point where I want to acheive things with my work that statistically I have a very small chance of acheiving. Scientifically, because of the nature of my illness,(age of onset, lack of education, gender) the odds are against me. So I have decided to "Do what cannot be done". The realization is dawning on me that in order to "do what cannot be done" I must gain strength from spirituality. I am the daughter of a scientist, and as I have been taught, Prayer is a paradigm outside the natural order of the universe.
It helps me read about your experience with prayer.
Anonymous
8:23pm friday, 4th february
Without a question..............There can be no answer.
Anonymous
9:44pm friday, 4th february
Trust me Stand, in no way did I try to disturb you,....I hold people like you and me with the highest regard.
Anonymous
Stand