37 The Silent Killer Who Stalks You from Inside

1.      Intro: Welcome to the podcast Coronavirus Crisis: Carpe Diem!, where by God’s grace, you and I rise up and embrace the possibilities and opportunities for spiritual and psychological growth in this time of crisis, all grounded in a Catholic worldview.   We are going beyond mere resilience, to rising up to the challenges of this pandemic and becoming even healthier in the natural and the spiritual realms than we were before.  I’m clinical psychologist Peter Malinoski and I am here with you, to be your host and guide.  This podcast is part of Souls and Hearts, our online outreach at soulsandhearts.com, which is all about shoring up our natural foundation for the spiritual life, all about overcoming psychological obstacles to being loved and to loving.  a.       Thank you for being here with me.  This is episode 37, released on October 12, 2020 b.      and it is titled: The Silent Killer Who Stalks You From Inside.  2.      I want to talk with you about the silent killer, the worst adversary I face clinically, the greatest rival, the greatest opponent to love and life that I have ever met within another person or within myself. 3.      This one is a very stealthy, effective, ruthless killer -- often hidden beneath the surface of our consciousness, in the murky waters deep below where we can see.  But then at times it surfaces, Powerful, moving.  And maybe you think I'm being dramatic -- but I'm not.  I've seen it kill other and I've been seriously wounded by it myself.     a.       Killer on the natural level and also on the spiritual level.  This assassin slays not only hearts, minds and bodies but also souls.  A very comprehensive murderer, very complete, this hitman does his work often slowly but very thoroughly.  b.      Who is this killer?  High blood pressure?  No.  Stroke?  No.  Heart disease?  No.  Diabetes?  No.  Cancer? No.  These can and do kill bodies, but as serious as they are, they are nowhere near as deadly to most people as our silent killer.  c.       Who is this killer?  The devil you say?  Satan?  No.  Not Satan.  Satan cherishes this killer, and prizes the stealthy sneaking, clandestine work.d.      No, it's not Satan because this killer lives within us in a way that demons ordinarily do not.  This killer has a pass to roam within us, to move in our being.  Satan doesn't, unless we are possessed.  Besides, Satan does not have permission to slay us, or to harm us unless God permits it, at least with His passive will, and only then for our greater good.  e.       This killer seems meek and modest, but when it whispers its messages in our ear, it evokes in us fear, anxiety, depression, and efforts to do more and more, and it can also provoke us to anger, aggression, and violence.  Unchecked, this killer can bring us all the way to helpless, despair and suicide.  f.        Some of us try to numb ourselves to distract ourselves from this killer by using alcohol, drugs, food, binging on Netflix, hours of social media, masturbation, porn, shopping, compulsive exercise, gambling, surfing the web, video games, sleeping the day away, dissociating and even cutting and burning our bodies, all in an attempt to escape.g.      Who is this killer?  It is absolutely vital for us to know -- is it guilt -- no.  Depression -- no, Anxiety, Fear, Anger -- no, no, no.  Is it pride?  No, not pride.  But this killer has a close and intimate relationship with pride.  The killer feeds pride and is nourished by pride.  Who is it?  Take a moment and really think about it.  We need to know this killer, this adversary.  And we will.  Today we will be getting to know this silent killer.  But not yet.  We've got to look beyond the killer for a moment.  4.      There is one thing that disarms this killer.  One thing.  And that one thing is Love.  Real authentic Love.  Charity.   Love rescues us from this killer.  It transforms us, makes us immune to the silent killer who no longer has power over us.  So let's talk about love.  5.      Shifting gears.  Two great commandments -- a.       Matthew 22:35-40    And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”b.      Main task is to love God and love our neighbor.  With all of ourselves.  All your heart, all your mind, all your soul.  All of us.  c.       And we need to love our neighbor as ourself.  Think about that.  Love our neighbor as ourselves.                                                                                 i.            Jesus doesn't say we need to love our neighbor more than ourselves -- it could be implied, but I wonder about whether that's possible.  d.      So that means we need to be loved                                                                                i.            Reflecting on last week's episode --  Why we flee from real love.  the capacity to receive love --                                                                               ii.             We discussed fear, avoidance, anger                                                                             iii.            We went into how real love burns, it requires us to give up dysfunctional coping mechanisms                                                                            iv.            It can require us to give up good things that are lesser than love.                                                      &n...