Collective :: Peter Rollins | Behind the Veil

The key for change lies in the acceptably unacceptable. It is radical to bring it to the surface. Exposing the thing that one’s group does that is counter to the ethic or how much of the unacceptable is actually allowed forces us to acknowledge the truth, rather than our idealized version of ourselves. For the naive, there is only the acceptable and the unacceptable and they remain stuck in the ideal.

Our thoughts may belie what we truly want. It takes a lot of introspection and hard work to begin to figure it out. Subtle clues such as consistently pulling out the wrong keys, going to the wrong coffee shop, not looking at a certain room can indicate an aspect of ourselves that we are not dealing with. The truth is in this symptom. The one little thing we do that doesn’t make sense is ignored.  We can say that it is “not me,” since it does not fit into our idealized self.

We all have an alter ego that we attempt to live up to, an ideal self. Our repression of what we see in ourselves that does not align with that notion eventually boils over. The unpleasant truth finds a way to speak. On a societal level, when there is something that we cannot look at, a taboo in the culture, it tells the truth that something is not working. We must listen to let it speak.

It is difficult to find satisfaction in the moment. We like to tell people about what we are doing. Update facebook, tell friends, tweet, even tell ourselves that we are happy. This is an extension of our idealization. The search for fulfillment is paralleled by a search for God in religion, but maybe God is not the thing that we find at the end. Wouldn’t ending the search be a tragedy? Perhaps God is what drives us to passionately pursue life. “Perhaps the very thing you’re looking for you already have.”

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