Hardcore Brokenness: The Examined Life

Warning: I am probably going to get a little philosophical today. You've been warned. Completely.

For the past month, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on my own flaws and brokenness, in an effort to better understand the things that keep me from growing in my relationship with God. It's been an interesting process, and definitely rewarding and insightful, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's actually a healthy way to go about things.

Don't get me wrong- it's definitely a good idea to be aware of the areas where you're struggling, so that you can bring them to God and lay them before Him in full submission to His grace and glory, and ask Him to be at work in you to change them. What I'm not sure about is whether or not it is a good idea to carefully examine one's own life on such a regular basis, with the goal of being critical and trying to improve.

Plato gives this analogy about life in a cave- you spend your whole life living in said cave, understanding it on a purely physical level, then one day you somehow come out of that cave, and are given incredible insights into the 'real world' outside. Then you're sucked back into the cave, and you're forced to go back into your regular life while simultaneously being made aware and conscious of the world outside, only nobody believes you because "that's too meta bro"

This raises the question about whether or not ignorance is truly bliss- would you be happier to keep living your simple, monotonously cave-life, or to have your eyes opened to the truth and the things beyond but to have them unattainable because you're thrown back into the cave again?

All this to say, I've been reading philosophy textbooks recently and they got me thinking (as they are wont to do) about whether or not this series is actually good for me, and if I'm going about it the right way or not. I think if I continue to live 'the examined life' and *intentionally* reflect on things like this, all I'm really doing is being overly critical of myself and not letting God just call me out on things, which makes it feel all too artificial.

That being said, I'm going to discontinue this series as a regular, weekly thing. I may come back to it from time to time, but only when it flows naturally and comes from legitimate places. I will still continue the trend of having a new post up every Wednesday, however, so do keep checking back for more!

Yours in Christ,