A figure who was a helper to me on my path was Martin Luther. I mention him not because he was critical of the Catholic Church. Rather I mention him because of his intense spiritual struggle, and the solution that he found.
History suggests that Martin as a young man was wracked with guilt– guilt that never went away. To remedy his spiritual situation, he tried a number of strategies. He flagellated himself. He fasted. He sang hymns for hours on end. He prayed. He confessed.
Finally, Luther arrived at a solution which had personal and spiritual ramifications. He conceived that Christ (and therefore God), was outside of himself. Christ abides, according to Luther, in Heaven, and Luther himself, in his own body and mind, can only gesture towards Christ– to praise him, pray to him, and so forth.
By differentiating himself from Christ, Luther was able to forgive himself, and to more effectively ask for God’s grace.
As a schizophrenic, if I can distinguish my own mind and body from that of God, I can more readily understand the world around me, the people in it, and the universe at large. Incidentally, I am not the first mentally ill person to reach this conclusion, both about Luther, and as Luther did.
I’ve honestly considered a “Martin Luther’s500th costume.”’For Halloween! No luck so far. But I like the post
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Thanks, Bob! If you do that, you should have a large piece of paper with some theses on it and a nail.
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