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The Rorschach Test: What Do You See?
Seeing church,
Blessings from Eden!
All of the Lord's promptings are time-sensitive, fit into a larger schedule He is working on behind the scenes. This is why it is dire that we always obey immediately, never dragging our feet, never talking ourselves out of a divine prompt. Today's mundane prompting might be the hinge that swings a massive door later--the one you are praying for and craving deep down. I've experienced this many, many times!
Regarding today's article, what do you see when you look at the scenarios of your life? Your life is an endless Rorschach Test.
The Rorschach Test
Around the time of World War One, Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach experimented with the therapeutic utility of paint splatter and inkblots. These seemingly random splotches and blotches could, he reasoned, reveal a person's internal condition or abilities. He would show his patients ten images and ask them, "What do you see?" (Picture to the left is Rorschach's originals. Photo courtesy of Brittanica.)
Based on their responses he would infer certain conclusions about their internal reality. The probing and therapeutic process would then advance from there.
Does It Work?
Before I get to the purpose of this article you may be wondering, Does it work?
For certain people, yes, it can be telling. For example, if a person sees a monster or predatory animal or weapon or some other aggressive/destructive motif in 70-100% of the pictures, well, common sense tells you that would be insinuatory. Or, a person who repeatedly sees unique motifs or imagery schemes would insinuate exceptional creative ability. Any recurrent motif or scheme, negative or positive, in most or all of the pictures, is insinuatory.
For certain others the test reveals little or nothing, which is why professional caregivers are divided on the test and modern versions of it. Many people take the test and their perceived motifs are inconsistent, or, they too often check the box that says, It looks like nothing at all.
The Neverfailing Insinuation
Before you scamper off to find out if you are destructive or creative or simply love butterflies and pelvises, let me save you the energy: your life is the real Rorschach Test. Every day, every season, we are faced with scenarios upon which we project our internal condition or abilities. How we act and react 70-100% of the time is the neverfailing insinuation of what we really are or have inside. Real life is one amorphous inkblot after another, regularly taunting and tugging at the unseen real You, asking with coy intimidation, "What do you see?"
At such times, do you pause and really listen to these deeper motifs popping and repopping into your mind? Do you then take them to the Lord in honest prayer, waiting on Him to valuate them? As you go through the daily and seasonal inkblots of your life, you might want to reacquaint yourself with the unnerving but truly liberating potential of Genesis 2:19.
Genesis 2:19
The spine-chilling irony is that life, with all its fuzzy and complex scenarios, is a neverending interpretive-creative opportunity. On some level that scares us, because, it casts on us continual responsibility and involvement. Genesis says, "...He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name." Our first father Adam was given this interpretive-creative freewill, which naturally extends to his progeny, you and I. Solomon and James tell us this, too, in their own wording (Pr 18:21, Jas 3:3-5).
God brought living inkblots to Adam. Whatever Adam named them, that is what they were.
God, and life in general, bring inkblots to you. Whatever you name them, that is what they are.
The Interpretive-Creative Ability
The Adamic interpretive-creative ability is a type of self-fulfilling prophecy, the theological idea of scriptures like Proverbs 18:21 and James 3:3-5. Realize, though, the ability is not in our tongues or words, per se, as many Christians incorrectly cite. The ability is in the power of the tongue. Read Proverbs 18:21 carefully in a more literal translation (like the YLT or NKJV or NASB). The power of the tongue is the interpretive-creative faith (belief, conviction, etc.) energizing it. This is why both David and Paul said, "I believed, therefore I spoke" (Ps 116:10, 2Co 4:13). Paul included us in that ability (2Co 4:13), "...Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak" (NIV).
Notice Paul's emphasis on "the spirit of faith" and "believing" (or the vocabulary I am using, "the underlying interpretive-creative faith"). The speaking or naming is merely the final executive step. That final step is only as powerful as the conviction or spirit of faith or interpretive-creative faith projecting from underneath it.
So how do I change what I am believing and projecting into my life, and therefore, creating?
Judge, Legislator, Executive
1Thessalonians 5:23 says your entire triune being is engaged in God's work in your life: spirit, soul, and body. How does this apply to what we see and create?
The Judicial You (Soul)
Get good at metacognition, self-awareness, and judging yourself (1Co 11:31). Metacognition means "thinking about what you are thinking about", and this analytical matrix happens in our psyche or soul. Humans have the unique ability to analyze their own internal world in a deliberate, conscious way. If you let your soul run wild, with little or no introspection, you will keep vomiting your deeper motifs onto your life. Instead of seeing subtle opportunities or blessings in seed-form, you will see self-sabotaging or scary or outdated things, or nothing at all. There needs to be a judicial you refereeing and developing your psychological world.
Proverbs 23:7 (YLT): For as he hath thought in his soul, so is he...
1Corinthians 11:31 (AMP): But if we evaluated and judged ourselves honestly [recognizing our shortcomings and correcting our behavior], we would not be judged.
The Legislative You (Spirit)
Having an internal judiciary is not enough. Our self-analysis depends on some set of standards or values--the Word of God. The Word is permanently encoded into our born-again spirit, a New Covenant phenomenon promised in the Old Testament (Eze 36:26,27, 11:19,20, Ro 7:22). Through repentance, confession, asking, grieving, declaring, and any and all kinds of prayer, we commune with God verbally so that our soul conforms to our Word-encoded spirit. As that happens our psychological motifs change, we start seeing and projecting in a way that creates what is awesome and awe-inspiring from the fuzzy, complex scenarios of life.
The Executive You (Body)
Having an internal judge and legislator is not enough, though. Our body is the executive, the one who receives information from the inner person and applies it in the time-space-matter world. The many scriptures about obedience, application, discipline, diligence, perseverance, etc. all have to do with bodily action. This is why we need to manage our bodies well.
First, the body is meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body (1Co 6:13). Second, it is the literal dwellingplace of God's presence on earth (v19), not your beloved church building. Third, it is your body that carries out information coming from the Holy Spirit, your born-again spirit, and your soul. Demons are vile, but they are not stupid. If they cannot keep your spirit unsaved or your soul in dysfunction, they will simply target the executive--the body. They will push you to trash your body with irresponsible, unhealthy habits so that you are so diseased or infirm or lethargic or obese that you cannot obey information coming from the Voice within, even if you wanted to.
Again the Lord asks, "What do you see?"
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