Handicapped
I remember it was during school last year when I was first confronted with the notion that my religion (a quick note, I try very hard to express the distinction that my religion isn’t a religion in the traditional sense but is instead a relationship with the creator) is a crutch. In fact, the words came from one of my friends who has very strict atheist views. She said, “Forget the crutch, [religious people] need the whole wheelchair!” Despite her sarcastic undertone, I have to admit, she has made a very honest observation about religion. In a medical sense, requiring a crutch implies that the individual has some kind of impairment or handicap, like a broken limb. Naturally, one should assume it would be very difficult for that individual to live/function without that crutch as an aid. Spiritually, the term “crutch” implies the same thing. Human beings may be described as “latching on” to a religion or worldview for help because it may be difficult to go on about their daily lives and all that it entails (i.e. dealing with negativity).
Now, the question at hand is whether or not human beings NEED a spiritual crutch. Basically, are our souls whole and self-sufficient or are they impaired in some way? Depending on your perspective, a crutch can either be a positive, helpful tool because it is absolutely necessary or a useless tool that pertains to the weak-minded. What is it that leads some of us to believe that we need some kind of help? If you think about it, we all have faced some kind of adversity in our lives. Despite living in this big open world filled with opportunity, we also time after time confront major roadblocks, negativity, such as pain, loss, and disappointment. I always like to imagine this sort of situation as falling into a deep hole we cannot climb out of alone; we reach for a hand to help us out. It is within our nature to gravitate towards others for safety, comfort, and security. It’s a love, an unconditional love that we desire so deeply… selfless love that knows no judgment. The problem is, we as humans constantly desire and expect this treatment but we find it to be difficult to give it in return.
Why? It almost seems as though we let our own selves get in the way. We treasure our own satisfaction and fulfillment so much that we tend to be less willing to make sacrifices for others, especially if those sacrifices don’t benefit us personally. We have become so accustomed to seeking our desires that we oftentimes do so without regard for our fellow man. Pride, greed, envy, wrath, laziness, lust… are those not self-centered tendencies, invitations to shallow pleasures? We know inherently that we ought not to do intentional harm to our fellow man, yet we often accept the fact that we do harm as “just a part of our nature.” We know this isn’t something we should accept. In fact, the majority of us don’t accept it. We WANT peace. We WANT harmony with our fellow people. We don’t LIKE pain and grief and suffering and we have NEVER viewed it as a good thing. For those who think that we don’t, as individuals, need fixing then I really truly ask you to take a look at your life and how you have treated others in the past. You’ve made mistakes, I’ve made mistakes. Making mistakes is okay, tolerating them isn’t. This doesn’t mean we should all go out and criticize each other for messing up. We know we’re not perfect, we’re not anything close. I’ve always loved the verse in Matthew 7:3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” To me, that verse really exemplifies our problem. We set high expectations on others while at the same time we don’t realize how much WE could do better. As brothers and sisters from the human family, we need to help each other out if peace is our goal. Yet because of our inner tendency to fall short of expectation, this is a big sign that we, collectively, need something more because we ARE spiritually impaired.
My crutch is Jesus Christ and I am proud to have Him as my crutch. I am too weak to stand without Him, without His unconditional love. He is my crutch because He helps me to do what I cannot do on my own. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “it means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing a part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death.” I have been saved by His grace, by the fact that only as a man, God is able to undertake our suffering and pay our debt, perfectly. He died for me. I will live for Him.
(Re-reading older posts…)
This is really great. Thanks for this!
