This week, my son Bryce and I were going to the mall. I hate the mall but there was something that he wanted and it was ONLY at the mall. The conversation we had was one that I would not trade for this world. We were talking and he asked the question, “Is hypnotism wrong if someone is using it to loose weight or fight an addiction?” This question came about from a book that he is reading about a rock star that was deep in the rock scene, drugs, and addictions. One of the things in the book was that he had been hypnotized to forget about something that had happened. As I thought about the question he asked, my first thought was to wax spiritual and bash such nonsense. But I realized that would not satisfy his quest for knowledge. I also realized this was one of those teaching moments that come along from time to time that will shape and build a father son relationship. One thing I don’t want to happen is for my sons to have questions and be afraid to come to me for fear of always being spiritual and not providing answers they understand.
Rewind a week back. Bryce started football practice a few week back and started to complain about his shoulder hurting. We figured it to be just sore muscles from the contact at practice. We would put on that stuff that if you touch it to certain parts of your body, you would be begging to be shot!!! After a few days, nothing changed. We realized that he had tension built up in his shoulder from practice and the only thing that would relieve it was to rub it out. If you have ever had this, you realize that it is very painful to massage this out and usually take a couple of time for it too release. Well, I went at it and it was painful for him to endure. After a few times, it finally released and he had full mobility back in his shoulder just in time for his first game.
Now back to the trip to the mall. As I set there thinking how to respond to his question, the above situation came to mind. I told him to remember his shoulder problem from the previous week. I told him that hypnosis was the same thing as us trying to take care of his shoulder with Mineral Ice sports cream. We were just treating the symptom, (sore shoulder) and not digging deeper for what was causing the sore shoulder. He had to endure more pain in the beginning process of dealing with his shoulder, but the end provided him total freedom of movement. I told him that hypnosis is used as a “quick fix” without really addressing the problem. We live in a society where the symptoms are treated without getting to the “real problem.” It has become easier to have a pill prescribed for our symptom than it has to face our problem or worse, admit that we have a problem. Even in our schools, it is the “hip”, “cool” “off the chain”, “fly” or whatever the latest “word” is for kids to be on some type of pill. We have lost it somewhere when we think that the answer is in a bottle and not the bible. The last time that I check, God can do ANYTHING if we believe and have faith in Him.
Bryce learned a valuable lesson just from a sore shoulder. It was a great experience that he could associate with and have a better understand of dealing with problems. We must all get to the point that before we substite a pill or a cream for something, that we make sure that it is the problem and not the symptoms that we are treating.
Peace Out……
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