It’s not so bad being in the light

After watching the recent film release, ‘Glass‘ by M. Night Shyamalan, a quote from Kevin (actor James McAvoy) has stained my thinking. He says,

It’s not so bad being in the light.

If you have watched ‘Split‘ or have any prequel knowledge to the character of Kevin (without me providing any or further SPOILERS), there’s insight into why Kevin’s personalities formed. A key element to this (in my opinion) was LOVE.

Lack, no or mis-used love can deeply affect a person. Whether it is initiated by that individual themselves or inflicted by another, its effects can be damaging to a person’s whole well-being. We see an example of this with Kevin, having unfortunate results.

Kevin became lost in being protected by his other personalities. Most of us can identify with hiding behind something in order to avoid dealing with situations or circumstances from our past, especially if we were deeply hurt in our hearts.

We all have our hiding experiences. Sometimes it is just easier to let another voice take over. Look at Adam and Eve when they disobeyed what God had instructed them to do (Genesis 3) – they hid. Elijah hid from Jezebel – we all have our moments with our personal reasons.

Kevin’s horrific past caused him to hide amongst others who would protect him – no more being in the light or having to face what happened. The thing is that at some point in our lives, that which we feel or think crushed us can actually present itself before us again.

In the latter part of the film we see this through an encounter between Kevin and Casey. Casey (actress Anya Taylor-Joy), previously ill-treated by Kevin and his personalities, reintroduces LOVE back to Kevin. Bypassing all his other personalities through true, genuine care and affection, Casey brought Kevin back to the surface.

True love will always bring us out of hiding if we are courageous enough to make the choice to be open to it. True love will always cause us to come out of the darkness. True love will present us with questions as to why we are hiding and what we are hiding from.

God called out to Adam in the garden (Genesis 3:9),

And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

God came to Elijah in his cave (1Kings 19:13),

When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Why would He not do the same for us?

It takes strength and courage to face our past, the things that we think and feel crushed us – to deal with what happened and its effects on us. In an earlier exchange between Kevin and Casey, Kevin came to the surface but wasn’t ready to face his past. It’s not always the walk in the park we wish it would be. Kevin hid for a little longer – do you?

Casey and Kevin

In the latter part of the film there is another exchange between Casey and Kevin. This is the thing I love about TRUE LOVE, it presents itself more than once to us – it’s relentless in coming back to help us.

In this later encounter, The Beast is present. Kevin’s worst state is present when love comes knocking. This is quite like reality, when we are at our most vulnerable, weakest, cruelest, animalistic, hard heartened state, love comes knocking at our door trying to come in. I think we can identify with Kevin, don’t you?

One touch from Casey caused Kevin to resurface even though the Beast was in control. True love, if we allow it, will bring us back to our original state. No matter how hurt, vulnerable, damaged or broken we are, true love knows how to break through and transform us. True love tells us it may hurt or look impossible, but that there is a way out.

I always thought that The Beast was the strongest, but I was soo wrong… Kevin is the strongest. For me, Casey represented true love – someone that will cause you to become who you really are… your true self.

The Bible says God is love (1John 4:7). It also says that He stands at the door knocking and will come in if we let Him (Revelation 3:20). If a film can show what true love from a person can do, how much more can love Himself do for us?

Kevin (for me) represents humanity. Life can break us and we suffer at its hands, but I believe that TRUE LOVE can heal, deliver and transform us into the person that we were always meant to be, created to be… our true selves.

I hope you will find strength and courage to let love in. No matter what your past and other voices tell you, TRUE LOVE will always conquer all.

 

It Is ‘OK’ To Dream Again

Dreams are ‘a succession of images, thoughts or emotions passing through the mind during sleep’. I want to speak about the dreams that are connected to our desires which have either been able to make it to the surface or have been locked away due to circumstances and wounded emotions.

Dreams when made reality awake the soul of a man. You begin to become alive on the inside. This could be the start of your business, your dream job or career, starting your own family, getting married, believing that there is a special person for you to grow old with for the rest of your life, owning your own house or car; the list continues. We are meant to live out those things which bring us to life.

Dreams dependent upon the context of our desires are meant to be lived out. Not all our desires are good or beneficial to us. They can sometimes be a warped thought, negative emotion from experiences or poor judgments. We dream of many things and these different dreams are categorised. When we dream not all of what we see should be birthed, that’s why context, understanding and wisdom are always needed.

One of the biggest enemies of dreams are FAILURE. Failure  produces disappointment, which zaps our emotions and sends us into a mental spiral. Before you know it fear, depression, anxiety and stress start knocking on your door asking to be let in and if enough disappointment is in you, you will let them in.

Unsuccessful attempts or non-performance due to not even trying can turn our dreams into nightmares. That which once captivated our hearts and brought life now bring pain and death. The failure to accomplish a dream can leave a person deprived. We lose our joy and life begins to leak from within us.

Sometimes we can find strength to pick the dream up and start again. We start revving the engine and as we are about to pull off another hit befalls our dream. Just like a boxer in the ring when caught off guard, we are hit by an unforeseen blow. This blow strikes at our very core. After finding the faith and courage to try and accomplish what first did not work out, takes its toll more than it did the first time. Even after this more knocks can come to the same dream, desire.

After a certain amount of knock backs, just like the boxer in the ring, we get to the point of K.O. We struggle to uplift the dream. We become fearful of trying again. This time we may have no fight left. The battle to just pick up this dream again is too much for us, never mind actually giving life to it.

Failure is a very common human problem. It hits our mind through our circumstances and once it takes root it begins to pick away at our hearts.

Some people allow failure to strengthen them and they find the energy to keep pursuing their dreams. Whatever comes against them does not seem to phase them, it only makes them stronger. Unfortunately many of us do not and we give them up.

It is hard to break through to a failed mindset as the impact of the unmet desires can crush a person’s heart. When you believe and pursue something with all you have and it does not work out, it is a painful experience of which we do not always want to re-live. Dreams only seem make believe as any attempt to achieve them becomes thwarted. It is the same for if we do not even let our dreams take flight due to other people, situations or even our own unbelief.

An antidote for failure is HOPE.

When your dreams have been met with nothing but opposition then it can be hard to dream again. To believe and step out again can be very challenging. Today choose to re-question your thoughts of failure.

Close your eyes and dare to dream again. Dare to believe again. Find the strength to give your dream another go. Don’t let fantasy steal your reality if you know it is achievable.

Let the right relationships fuel you with encouragement and support. Let the Internet be your oyster and find all the help and advice you can. Refuse to give up on your dream.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

 

Internally Shutter-boxed

Man can sometimes mirror machine. Not only has he the ability to function all day and night; sub-sectioning a vast intake whilst constantly re-charging but he also has the capacity to ‘break down’. Human nature has a way of dismissing that which it does not wish to face. Anything that causes internal conflict or outer uncomfortability can cause us to run like prey as if it were conscious of its predator.

Our life is the arena and we are the centre stage of it. All activity concerning us is present in the centre whilst spectators have their active or passive input. Our mind, will and emotions (soul), heart, spirit and physical being are all part of this centre which is affected by the activities of everyday life.

Situations and circumstances (activities of life) trailed alongside their outcomes form us as a people. Their affects shape and help build us into the people who we become and are today. These outcomes can have vibrant or fatal affects on us. We manifest the outcomes our situations and circumstances internally have on us. How we handle the outcomes begin to flow from us. They manifest behaviours and attitudes.

Our arenas; education, religion, work, economy and finance, politics, relationships- love/ family/ friends, culture and other avenues become infected . The exterior gives insight into the interior. How we handle decisions and choices, confusion, beliefs and doubts, unmet desires, frustrations and anger, discouragement, violence and abuse, etc is key to our internal selves.

At any given time or age these impacts on our heart, soul and physical selves still make us prone to the ability to shut ‘ones-self’ down. Today’s society is no better than the ancestors that have lived  before us and those yet to be birthed in a distant future. Even Adam and Eve hid once they had disobeyed God’s instructions (Genesis 3). Life and its hand dealings still have their impact on us.

The problem occurs when we internalise the problems by not handling them well or maybe not at all. We section off the parts we do not want to face. They become little stacker boxes or locked up crates with keys that can only be found in a treasure hunt. Some shut whilst others open. Internally we can hide in every corner or dark valley available to us that allows us to find shade rather than the light we need. We become masters of masquerading rather than transparent beings.

When we begin to shut down internally rather than be honest and face our Goliath’s (giants or mountains) we have a major problem. Not only will we become distant from our real selves but we begin to die inside.

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee” (King James Version).

Regardless of religion or culture the above scriptural principle applies. Whatever you think you are, you become. The only way of outgrowing what we become is in changing our thoughts and emotions through our decisions from the impacts of life. We become better or worse people based on the internal attitude and what we have been told of who we are and who we internally choose to be, leading to our external manifested self.

Life is different for every person, some worse than others but all still damaging in a way to that particular individual, which I think we all can agree on. The best advice is that regardless of what has happened, seek help. Whether it be through religion or counsel; never internally shut down or get addicted to something that will numb the pain of an internal bleed. Do not internally box yourself up into compartments and write on them the wounds of what happened. Dealing with every box is beneficial, hard but beneficial to you being ALIVE internally.

We think that because everything looks ok on the outside that all is fine but if the inside of a man is not living then he is walking dead.

Proverbs 4:23 reading from the New Living Translation version of the Bible reads “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life”.

Your heart is central to who you are. When you stop living from it you begin to feel its affects. Life throws some wicked curve balls at us but we can choose to face them and their percussions or internally shutter box; functioning with the lights off. Find a way to not shut down internally but face who you are becoming or have become internally.