You Can Depend on it
A successful parent nurtures and educates their children to grow up independent, self-sustaining and motivated to create a successful life. Emotionally secure and intelligently informed children become outstanding adults well able to cope with the many challenges life offers.
By sharp contrast, a parent who creates dependency in their child insures weaknesses that lead to failure. Such failure includes a sense of inadequacy and fear. Such a person is constantly asking for reassurance, craves enabling and suffers depression and negativity surrounding their hopelessness.
It is easy to see the differences in the independent person from the dependant one!
Unable to break free from being coddled, spoon-fed assistance or constantly supported financially the dependent person may be an adult in years but a mere child both emotionally and responsibly.
Why would any parent create and reinforce DEPENDENCY when it only leads to an inferior life for their child? What father or mother wants the ongoing role of being advisor, therapist, counselor or cheerleader for the entire life of their son or daughter?
Would God be such a parent?
Would an Almighty and Supreme Being really desire an eternal umbilical cord? Or, would it not be an indication of benevolent love for a Living God to create independent beings well able to make their own way using their own intelligence and following their own ambitions for a good life well lived?
When we look at ancient Judaism as a model of God's idea of perfect structure for humanity in daily life, spiritual practice and social interactions a stunning lack of encouragement for independent thought is to be found!
Instead, the specially "chosen people" who carried the badge of honor representing the one True God found themselves in constant dependency to His divine Law.
Every facet of daily life was ruled by an iron clad boundry of Good and Evil, Right and Wrong followed by severe punishments, fines and strictures as consequence of failure. Further, to even have any standing at all with the Lawgiver God a constant dependency on the rituals of Priesthood administration dogged their every weakness.
The heavenly Parent was bound and determined to insure no Jew would fail to be reminded of their inadaquacies, failings, limits and core worthlessness! Truly, the God of the Jews was an enabler of Dependency in the extreme. Is it any wonder the Jews failed constantly to keep such a bilateral relationship with their God even as a Covenant people?
Jesus as an enabler, or, Liberator?
Yet, as scripture would inform us, when the promised Messiah of Judaism arrived to fulfill the letter of the Law, even He would be accused and bullied by the religious adminstrators as a poor representative of any special insights or behaviors which might supercede that written law.
Why? Dependency on written codes and laws short-circuits the ability of humans to exercise good judgement! Black and White thinking leads to imperious Authority rather than reasoned practices.
Understanding is swept away because skeptical thinking and independant thought is viewed as a real threat to traditions and ancient practices. Change is not possible because nothing may BE changed!
Jesus did not so much encourage mere dependency on the Law for a perfect life as he did point to a kind of internal guidance system of benevolent concern for the real personal identity within each human. If each person treated others as he himself desired to be treated--what Law was necessary? But, the religious community in Judaism feared anarchy from such independent thought.
The stifled and cosseted narrowness of Judaism easily broke down and gave birth to sectarian differences. Rivalries for authority led to factions and contentious challenges for orthodoxy.
The wedge of Christianity drove into the brittle surface tensions of Judaism and a rift soon followed. Each sect found something useful or reprehensible to react to or follow. Opinions abounded as did versions of word-of-mouth observations on what might be beneficial or worthless about Jesus as a revolutionary founder of an innovative Judaism.
But, DEPENDENCY is a habit hard to break! Instead of being a true LIBERATOR, Jesus and christianity created a new kind of bondage. Set free from the Law per se, Christians were bound to a weird viral yoke of self-perfectionism. As Jews they merely paid for a sacrifice to reboot a sinful reputation by each offered goat, dove or bullock as they went. Dependant on the Priest's ministrations for absolution.
Under Jesus, however, once forgiven of all wrongs for all time the lapse into feckless behaviors brought an unforgivable status horrific in consequence: the sin against Holy Spirit! A truly "forgiven" christian would have to continue in perfection until his reward on the other side of death.
How could a forgiven human DEPEND on perfection?? They couldn't achieve perfection in the first place!
It was impossible, alas and only a headlong rush into the Advent of a returning Jesus to cleanse the world and establish a new kind of administration could stave off a deadly scourge for accumulated sinfulness! It was best to die a martyrs righteous death than to hang around sinning against the Holy Spirit for very long!
The temple and the Priesthood was destroyed by the Romans leaving no ritual forgiveness possible!
The Catholic policies cobbled together a new Administration of ritual "forgivers" or priests mimmicking the efficacy of the Jewish Priesthood (which was supposed to have been only a shadow of Christ's benefactions). Taking Communion and receiving benedictions eased the panic of non self-perfecting souls. Wholly dependent once again, Jews converted to a "system of salvation ritual" in the new Judiasm: Christianity. Others lapsed into mystical reinvention.
Modern Christianity waffles between the Puritan longing for a shining city on a hill of perfection and the practical goofiness of Baptist shrugging brags: "once saved, always saved".
Evangelicals busy themselves with perfecting YOU and wallow in their own smirky guarantees of heavenly habitation. But, are they free of both guilt, sin and ritual dependence?
Hardly!
Cults, denominations, Fundamentalists and their minions are entirely dependant yet and still!
They depend on absolute Truth. The black and white unshakable conviction they are entirely Right.
Knowing and proclaiming such Absolute confidence purges them simultaneously of both guilt and intelligent curiousity.
Christianity is a brand of Dependency in which the human mind depends on the assurance it is always 100% correct in all important matters!
How can this be achieved? Mystical revelation. The spirit of Gawd Almighty whispers to their own human spirit and, Presto!
Pagans would declare it "Magic", but, true Christians shudder at such blasphemy!
No, their God guides them in all ways, thoughts and performances.
They depend on it!
How, when, why?
Only a weak, sinful, imperfect soul would even ask such an annoying question!!
Just open your heart, your mind and your wallet and the INFORMED will take care of the rest.
YOU CAN DEPEND on it!