Dr. Sigmund Freud distinguishes between two different psychological approaches to handling difficulty. The focus to govern outward circumstances for internal happiness is considered an alloplastic adaptation. Those who seek to change themselves inwardly in response to difficulty are considered to be employing an autoplastic adaptation strategy.
Alloplastic persons are more likely to develop issues with mental illness, personality disorders and the like. But the autoplastic person who governs his life from the inside out tends to adapt to difficulty by self-governance and discovers the illusive state of peace of mind even in the midst of external complications.
Peace of mind – is always primarily a matter of the heart. It is natural to seek it through external configurations. “If only I had the right job, the right wife, enough money…” But things happen. And the internal realm of serenity, if it depends on social forces and conditions, is going to be tossed about by the periodic stormy waves of reality.
I have witnessed persons with enviable peace of mind in the thick of poverty and chaos. And amid great wealth I’ve witnessed deep spiritual unrest. I have seen persons suffer the loss of everything in category 5 hurricanes and not lose their sense of serenity. And I’ve also seen persons whose lives are near perfect fall apart inwardly.
I was born in the 60’s – where peace was sought passionately – marketed in music and merchandising – while the news churned out a whole different reality.
The 6:00 news cycled pessimism in Vietnam, where almost 60,000 young American men died along the ideological divide of East and West. Little was truly settled and the cold war continued.
At home, widespread social and political change was afoot. President resigns. Rampant violence breaks out in the streets and on college campuses. Race riots commence along with marches demanding civil liberties.
Values from prior generations were reconsidered – and a new paradise imagined. I remember it well – but I do not remember it as a time of peace.
Recreational drug use was the new craze. The free expression of love without boundaries – the new mantra. Long-haired-acoustic-troubadours – the new prophets. Though raised in the alternate southern culture of moral and social conformity, even when young, I was intrigued with these new champions of counter-culture.
It was fun, for instance, as young kids to climb into the station wagon and to turn every trip to the Piggly Wiggly into a hippy hunt – to hang out the window and point at the most outrageous examples of the bell-bottomed band.
As trends settled, the hippies largely assimilated into broader American culture, even as they reshaped it. Social tides shifted, and the high wore off – then the search of peace took on new skin. Some eventually found Jesus, some found Wall Street, some even landed in the White House. But none, I would contend, found peace through the effort of conforming the external world to internal needs. We only find peace with all things external when we recognize the battleground originating from the heart.
The human heart is highly capable of sharp, almost microscopic focus on single aspects of reality. It magnifies, distorts – exaggerates and widens emotional implications. But the heart lacks the universal wide-angle lens – a dilemma beyond private remedy. We are never clear how wonderful – and in simulcast – vulnerable our lives really are, because we are not capable of the big picture.
In good times – we are inordinately positive. When circumstances are discouraging – we are irrationally swept away in embellished pessimism. Our only genuine hope for peace of mind is to remember there is a Sovereign who sees all there is to see concurrently – and takes in every anticipated mishap and misdeed into his larger redemptive, restorative, reclamation project. Though we cannot envision the great design – by faith – we can see and surrender to the One who does.
Now a new generation is emerging with an even deeper and deleterious commitment to social change. The mores of the past are in serious question. Institutions long established are being reimagined. Disney actors have become merchants of obscenity. Female performers—in constant competition for the lewdness mantle. Those of religious upbringing and conviction are being swept away ‘en masse’ by this tidal wave of cultural change. The millenials—abandoning the church and its values in droves.
Political leaders capture the youthful idealism of a new generation through simple slogans like “hope and change” and “yes we can.” Like the 60’s – these are days of historic consequence.
But there is nothing new under the sun. Though recreational drugs are legalized – they will be found, as with previous generations, a dry cistern. Moral liberty – it’s own bondage. There is no external reshaping of society that brings inner peace, what only the Prince Himself can provide.
This is not to say that the church should not concern itself with the issues of justice – but in pursuit of making things right in our communities, we must remember that the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
I have given my life to the efforts of exacting systemic, holistic change to the problem of poverty and will continue to do so. I believe in community development enterprises. I know that when we pray for His Kingdom to come that social issues of equity and opportunity are paramount. But from my experience – those whose pilgrimage has led to a genuine peace of mind, have first had a new alignment in their heart with who is King.
In this way, Dr. Freud was right. If one’s sense of peace is dependent upon the orchestration of external surroundings – he will be disappointed. And the person who discovers and practices the art of self-governance is best suited for a making a difference in the world.