classic disease

i recently read a blurb from some christian wannabe who was advocating close, honest relationships as the only sure path to sanity and self-fulfillment. this wannabe even offered prayer for those who feel they can't allow others to get close enough so that they're completely known and acknowledged. but aren't "christians" some of the most judgmental individuals on the face of the earth? to be accepted, one must live by the maniacal "christian" code of conduct. this "christian" mindset has kept millions, over the centuries, from ever attaining/maintaining sanity and self-fulfillment.

in any case, these ideas remain with me. here's what some have said on the subject:

In his book, The Broken Heart, James Lynch says, "Most of the people I deal with have at the root of their physical problems the problem of loneliness. They may well be living with someone, or indeed in a busy, bustling family atmosphere but they do not know what it is to experience a close relationship. The lonely are twice as likely to suffer physical problems as those who enjoy a warm relationship with at least one other person."

Sydney Jourard in his book, The Transparent Self, said, "Every maladjusted person is someone who has not made himself known to another human being and in consequence he does not know himself. Nor can he be himself. More than that, he struggles actively to avoid becoming known by another human being. He works ceaselessly at it day and night. And it is work!"

Selwyn Hughes wrote, "We come to know ourselves only as we know how to relate effectively to others. A person who is known in a loving, trusting relationship by at least one other human being, is rich indeed and will have little fear about facing the world."

we are one.