Theology Part VIII page three Security Systems:
	Earlier I mentioned being included within a group was a source of security.  I said these groups come in the form of religion, gender, race, education, economic status, nationality and many other externally defined traits.  Existing in a community of look-a-likes reduces the amount of aggressive examination one experiences. When attachment experience years have convinced an individual of their insignificance and one is uncertain of their worth, the less examination the better, and the less examination there is, the greater is a person's sense of security!   For this reason, a community has a natural inability to critically examine itself. The search for, and adoption of, an external security system is motivated by a crippled image of Self. Uncertainty of our personal worth allows doubts and fears to infiltrate, leaving us vulnerable to critique; real, or imagined; from external sources, or from within. This vulnerability isn't just a nusance, a mere mosquito bite, or even a bee sting.  This vulnerability is an incapacitating emotional pain. This pain is so profound it distorts our ability to think rationally. To avoid the pain we use things to prop up our image of Self.  We surround our Self with things.  Materialism is simply subsidizing our perceived worthlessness with things. The more things we have, the easier it is to perceive our Self as valuable.  The more expensive the things are that we have, the more impressed we are with our Self; the more secure we feel.  Wealth is an extremely addictive external security system. Never certain of our value; always hearing that nagging attachment experience years' voice critiquing our every action, our every thought, a person is never assured of their worth.  A little more will make the person a little more valuable.   (The Judeo-Christian-Moslem theologies actually incorporate within their dogma the concept of worthlessness, filthy rags, sinful, falling short, worthy of eternal damnation and all.) Popularity, star status, the rich and famous; those addicted to these external security systems are some of the most insecure people on Earth. And you don't have to have wealth to be addicted to it. The mere desire for wealth and prestiege is addicting enough to warped your senses.  When Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler to sell everything, he was simply drawing the young man's attention to the fact he was addicted to an external security system.  When Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven was within, he was indicating our yearning for security would be satisfied within an internal security system. When a person's security system is internal, it is because they have gained sufficient knowledge to understand their Self. This understanding has made it possible for them to accept their Self unconditionally; the good, the bad, the ugly, the warts, the pimples, along with the socially admired attributes.  This Self-acceptance naturally fuels a mellow, unassuming, wholesome Love of Self. Once a person reaches this point of maturity, making it possible to Love their Self Unconditionally, they are able to Love those around them Unconditionally.  After a few years of practice, a sense of universal sacred significance takes root and the need for external sources of security dissolves. The whole concept of value and worth does a flip flop and becomes focused. This fresh clarity of thought devalues things and inflates the value of the intrinsic.  The universal struggle for bigger and better external security systems has created a social insanity. What person, totally assured of the value of their Self, so certain of their worth, so aware that they are deserving of Unconditional Love, so absolutely internally secure, would demean thier sacred significance and the sacred significance of all others by owning seven houses? Is there any secure logic as to why a person would devote irrational amounts of time and money to win seven gold medals when that time and money could have been spent meeting the needs of all the sacred others at home and abroad? What insanity allows an entertainer, be they a sports star, a music performer or a movie idol, to rake in millions while a Mother Theresa type lives in poverty? Work very hard at extricating yourself from your mind-numbing orbit and think about it:  These are childish behaviors. Take a good look at the behaviors of mankind.  Though drenched in ridiculous sophisitcation, aren't the majority of mankind's behaviors childish.  Even the rudimentary elements of war are common occurances on an elementary school playground.  Why are mankind's behaviors so childish? The answer is: Mankind's development has stagnated at early childhood developmental levels because of a universal dibilitating sense of insignificance, which then causes a feverish world-wide search for an adequate external security system [an oxymoron] all this being fueled by the pervasive and divisive universal free-will mindset.  An insecure world will in time destroy itself.  Let's go back to the beginning:  Security systems are essential. Without them, fear and uncertainty would whittle away the quality of our lives until our lives would hardly be worth living.  It is appropriate for an infant to look to external sources for its sense of security.  It is not appropriate for a grown-up to look to external sources for his or her sense of security. Without a goal, purpose vacillates and we are smothered in oblivion.  Our goal must be Adulthood and the concept of Adulthood must be decisive.  Adulthood cannot be defined solely by the growth of the physical body. Adulthood is more than simply being a grown-up.  It is not religious, political, racial, sexual, or related to status.  Developmental Adulthood is characterized by physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual maturity, by completeness, by Self-actualization, by unthreatenable internal security systems, by knowledgeable innocence, by a dynamic sense of physical emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual independence, by a person's ability to understand, accept and Unconditionally Love herself or himself and all others.   And, even after raising the bar a good ten feet, when it is understood what Adulthood is, and why Adulthood is so difficult for individuals to achieve in today's world society, such as it is; when Knowledge attains this level, Adulthood is attainable by everyone. As caregivers, we must first attain and then retain our Adulthood. Only then will we be able to nurture those dependent on us, allowing them to attain their Adulthood and thus experience the freedom only found at this pinnacle of human development.  It might not be probable, but it is possible.  Really!  It can be done.
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