Quiet Courage of the Inner Light by Philip Pegler

Author:Philip Pegler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CHRISTIAN ALTERNATIVE BOOKS
Published: 2020-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

19

The Tipping Point

Life often appears to be utterly unsparing in its demands, but sometimes it does seem that hard knocks are needed to incline someone towards a life of greater faith, or more complete integrity.

Who can possibly say what might be required in any situation, to bring about this marked shift in a person’s attitude – a real change of heart? But often it is sudden trauma that tips the balance to bring about a vital change of direction and a radically fresh perspective. Losing a valued job, the breakdown of a cherished relationship, or the immense sadness of sudden bereavement – all of these are surely good enough reasons for depression, if not despair.

No facile explanation can ever satisfy an anguished demand for a proper answer to life’s unbearable dilemmas, but sometimes one knows from one’s own experience, that a stringent remedy in the form of a crisis, may be the only thing that will bring someone to their senses – if they have been pursuing what is clearly a mistaken or deeply damaging path for them or society.

Upheavals or reverses in fortune in life are never punishments as such, but they can represent a tough teaching, because it is never easy to witness the demolition of one’s resistance to the ongoing flow of events, which happen not to be to our liking.

I have previously written extensively about the healing power of pain, and I remain thoroughly convinced of the veracity of this approach that suggests that we often learn more effectively through difficulty than through ease.

The tipping point in my own life occurred without warning in early adulthood, when a promising career in the caring professions was abruptly cut short by a psychiatric breakdown. I became seriously disturbed after a love affair with a fellow student had broken up in the middle of our nurse training.

I was exceptionally vulnerable at that point – and some understandable reasons were not far to find. I had been devastated by the premature death of my mother from cancer eight years earlier when I had just come of age; in addition – in common with many of my contemporaries in the 1960s – heedless sampling of psychedelic drugs around that time had left me susceptible to psychological problems.

And there was one more factor that had considerable bearing on my over-sensitive state of mind. I had recently returned from extensive travels in India where I had gone in quest of Truth. I had been exposed to rough living conditions and my physical health had been compromised; it would have been an unsettling time of transition for anyone.

I soon recovered from this initial breakdown, but I remained subject to periodic bouts of psychiatric instability for many years to come – although I was fine in between and continued to work normally in my new profession as an antiquarian bookseller.

I am thoroughly convinced that the psychiatric disturbances to which I had apparently become so liable, were closely connected with my intense, spiritual seeking, which was putting my sensitive nervous system under intolerable strain.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.