Hardening

Over time, I have somewhat struggled to express my thoughts about this topic, which I consider sensitive and important. So more than other posts, it's probably best to read all of the links on this page, or at least the following in blockquotes. Let me know if you don't understand something. I will probably try to rewrite this (likely, much of the MSLN material) at some point.

An important addendum here.

Is it okay to not listen to some voices?

What would it feel like to harden yourself?

Some discussion of emotional regimes as they relate to hardening.

Edited to improve wording.

27 May 2021: added mention of the danger of hate, and made other minor edits.

There's an important oversight in Motivational Structure which I want to address here.

In the New Wine System (the "N" of MSLN), it is believed that the people who don't make it to heaven are those who close themselves off to Jesus' voice, which teaches them to be righteous and more spiritually mature. People harden (even becoming completely hardened) because they are very uninterested in God on a deeper level, are no longer interested in trusting and therefore connecting to reality on the deepest level, or have come to hate Jesus, are an enemy of him, and are no longer interested in hearing what he has to say.

If you hear all this and care about whether you care about Jesus' voice and about the possibility of hardening, then you still have Jesus' voice speaking to you. The voice is not necessarily something you read or hear, but can be, and is essentially what you hear in your inner self, deep down, as you live your life. But if you don't care, you're in danger of hardening yourself. What this means is that it is dangerous to be complacent. If you're worried, you're not complacent. But if you aren't worried, or aren't disposed to grow, you may be complacent. It is also dangerous to hate, to throw away reality.

Does this translate to the "MSL" parts of MSLN? God in those frames is someone with whom we must come into tune in order to share eternity with him. It is in God's interests to actively shape us as he interacts with us. Ultimately he is the one who tells us how to grow into tune with him. So, we can listen to his voice, or not. And if we stop listening to his voice, we can't save ourselves, since part of being saved is being open to God's work in us. We are disposed to becoming like God, or not, and if we become complacent, we may lose the ability for our dispositions to change in his direction.

What this means for the motivational structure is that not only do you have a deadline somewhere "1000+ years" in the future, but if you don't remain open to the process of pursuing it, you may lose out. You have to value pursuing it, even if you aren't good at achieving it in the near term. What you fear is not failing to measure up to the standard which is required of you, but failing to care about seeking to measure up. If you fear, and continue to seek, then you are still open. But if you don't fear, or don't seek, then you are in danger. No one is not competent enough to care (to fear and seek). Even if you aren't an emotional person, as long as you can make decisions, you can care through those. If, through some disability apart from who you really are, you can't make decisions or have emotions, then God can give you a new body someday so that you do, if you are at least minimally disposed to seek him. If you hope in this, this is a disposition of seeking.

People are motivated both by having a big task ahead of them, and also by fear for their well-being. In MSLN, both are present, in ways that have strength but are also reasonable. There is a fear that is far off in the future, and a fear that is as close as death, for those who do not fear.