Askesis

The change is a direct consequence of a forced realisation of human limits.  Pulled out of the fantasy of a god condition and confined to the reality of the human condition, the person is surprised to be living not a diminished life but a deepened life, not a crippled life but a zestful life.  God-intensity begins to replace self-absorption; mature wisdom begins to supplant self-importance. (p89)

I couldn't count how many times I have heard the words "I must decrease that He may increase" spoken out in church, including by me - and not really understood them, or worse: didn't really mean them.   I'm beginning to think that I might have been saying "He must increase lots, and I must increase a bit too" - more of Him and more of me, good deal.   But this is a 'god-condition'. 

Fearfully, I ask:  I wonder if it is possible to deal with our pride, to even recognise it's magnitude and toxicity, without some crushing experience, without 3 days in the belly of the fish? I think this might be where Peterson is heading.    A god-condition must be self-idolatry - and, inevitably for me, that makes me think of Tim Keller, and his unnerving suggestion in the CT interview last October:

Q: Is it necessary to suffer disappointment before seeing that idols don't satisfy?

I fear you may be right. I don't want that to be true. Very often it's much stronger than disappointment. It's hard for me to look at a young person and know what their idols are, because usually something has to happen in their life to frustrate them for them to see that something has inordinate power over them. No one learned about their idols by being told about them.