Escapism

One of the things that bothers me most is our human tendency for escapism. When things are hard to face, we love to run and hide (kind of like Adam and Eve in the Garden). Rather than facing our lives and authentically dealing with our shit, we would rather try to escape, pretending like it all isn't happening.

Escapism is pretty easy to stop in alcoholism and drug abuse. It can also be seen when a young husband plays video games for hours instead of talking to his wife or when a mother dinks on Facebook instead of actually parenting.

But maybe escapism is most insidious when it is couched in religious terms. Today, I was waiting for Vanessa at an estate sale when I overheard a lady talking about how much she and her mother had accumulated. She said that she knew they should do something about it, but she just didn't want to. Then she said, "Hopefully the Lord will come back and I won't have to deal with it."

Huh. Is that why Jesus is coming back - so I can escape?

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