that we do well to do what we can to grab ourselves by the scruff of the neck and
insist that our flesh conforms to HIS PRIORITIES.
I don’t think, however, the flesh will ever be that good at doing that.
Apart from His Blood and His Spirit CONFORMING US with our ascent TO HIS IMAGE . . . we would be sunk, imho.
I understand what you're saying here, and it's clear what you mean. I more or less agree, but the violence in your imagery is very unpleasant to me.
As a psych nurse, I saw my share of violence in a clinical setting, and I'm keenly aware of language that escalates or exacerbates acting out.
And even if one is just sitting in front of a computer, it does not contribute to peaceful interchange. I'm not saying anything negative here, just that calm conversation is just as interesting, and more attractive, than language using more aggressive words.
I think there is a happy medium between passive, which most men dislike in themselves, and aggressive, which most women dislike in men. I call it the "alert, calm, interested" state. We can meet there, if you care to.
I’m trying hard to work at achieving that standard with you, Judith. I really am! LOL.
I appreciate the way you put all that. Thanks.
I hope you can and do appreciate that my 3,000+ hours of intense group work—much in the Navy and much in my PhD field placements and course work . . .
included a LOT of what you’d probably label ‘aggressive’
yet which produced extremely redemptive and healing results.
In some respects, it sounds like we had somewhat of an opposite set of experiences in some somewhat similar settings.
I don’t see those differences are
requiring
either one of us to be
WRONG
about such things.
“...calm conversation is just as interesting, and more attractive, than language using more aggressive words”.
How true—or perhaps, I should say how true it is that it SHOULD be that way.
I have experienced that many people suffering from personality disorders don’t seem to function well unless they can use more aggressive or emotion-driven ways to interact. They seem to get some relief from such behavior, while at the same time they inflict damage on others.