This calls for introspection

Last night, listening to a speaker, I found myself challenged and enthralled by this statement:

"Shame blinds your ability to differentiate between a statement of value and an observation."

I found this to be the one statement that I walked away mulling over in my mind. He went on to explain what he meant. If you are doing laundry and your spouse (or fill in whatever relationship applies here) says to you, "Don't put the colors with the whites," and you hear, "You are an awful embarassment of a husband. Why are you so idiotic that you don't know this?" rather than hearing the simple assesment and observation, there are some issues there to deal with. You will be a difficult person to live with. Because then, of course, the resulting train of events...you turn inward, look hurt, spouse says, "What's wrong?", you say "Nothing.", you learn to mask more behavior, conform to avoid shame...cycle continues, issues get pushed deeper.

I just found it to be fascinating. If you have a shame history in your upbringing, maybe you can identify?

The speaker was William Paul Young, author of The Shack. This book has generated some theological controversy, and I have some of my own minor issues, but if I can say...he was one of the most honest men that I have ever seen on a stage. Hands down. His love for Jesus is real and intense. His humility is the most genuine I have seen, with no attempts to 'be humble.' His sensitivity to God and people is near angelic. The Church would look vastly different were it filled with men like him...but I'm aware that God is growing His church in His own way...and I'm satisfied with that.