Apprehending the Critic

Negative thoughts, part 2: Apprehending the Critic

There is another class of negative thoughts that plague us as we go about our lives. These are thoughts from ourselves about ourselves. Examples:

·         You’re not good enough.

·         You can’t do that.

·         Nothing you do is ever good enough.

·         You’re going to look like a fool.

·         Compared to Sally, your work isn’t nearly as nice.

·         God is going to hate you for what you’ve done.

·         And so on.

When I used to teach Creativity, I would emphasize the existence of thoughts such as the above and suggest that they come to us from some internal Critic who has taken up residency in our heads and who is quite persistent in bringing us down no matter what we try to do. We would also take a look at where the voice of the Critic comes from---whether a parent or some teacher or so-called friends who are actually “toxic friends.” Where does your Critic come from? Who made the tapes that keep playing in your head?

The Critic chips away at our self-esteem, tries to discourage us from ever stepping outside our comfort zones, sets up comparisons between ourselves and others where we always end up losing. The Critic can affect the quality of our faith by supplanting it with a toxic, negative and self-defeating interpretation of faith and the Sciptures.

Speaking of the Scriptures, consider all the heroes and heroines you read about in the Bible. Where would they have been if they had allowed their Critics to dissuade them from the things the Lord led them to be doing. What if Abraham had listened to the Critic and stayed home? What if St. Paul had listened to the Critic when it told him that he wasn’t a good enough speaker to be able to speak in public? What if the apostles believed the Critic and simply gave up and dispersed after Jesus was crucified rather than gathering together in prayer and in hope?

What if I listened to my critic when it told me that I had no business trying to post spiritual reflections, or how any certain reflection wasn’t good enough to use? How about you? What have you been prevented from doing? Is there anything your own Critic is hammering away at you about right now?

Here’s a favorite passage from the Book of Revelation that I always identify with the Critic:

Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Crist have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. (Rev 12:10. Emphasis mine)

And so, my advice to you: Learn to recognize your Critic and where it comes from. Realize that it is lying to you. Then treat it as you would any other negative thoughts, as we spoke about yesterday. And then, by the way, stop criticizing others and be especially careful around children.