Do you have an issue with patches? Are you finding yourself putting on patches (or Band Aids?) over certain aspects, sins(?), weaknesses you see in your life? Do you ever have the time to return to those patches to resolve, build up, eliminate (fill in the blank) or do you simply hope that your patches will hold? They won’t you know. At the least opportune time the patch will spring a leak… And now what?
One of the problems with patches is that they never last because it rarely is a good fit, it’s a temporary solution not a permanent one. (The definition of a patch.) And you really shouldn’t be surprised when this happens… but we always are. In some cases, the scab under the patch pushes it away. Too graphic? Possibly but the point I’m making is that patches are just that – a temporary fix or protection for/to an ow-ie. It never is designed to be permanent.
Forcing this analogy a bit further… when you get a scrape or whatever that requires a patch, do you clean the ow-ie first? You should. Most scrapes and scratches always have attending to be done prior to putting on the patch or you may infect the problem. When it comes to spiritual issues, this is also important and relevant. Something happened that caused the problem so you need to look at what happened that now requires a patch and deal with those issues first.
Perhaps you think that what I’ve been talking about is just so much gibberish and completely inapplicable to you and your spiritual issues, questions. It’s not. In some respects it’s more important because it’s the process that you need to understand. You need to consider what has caused the need for a patch, you need to clean the area, medication need (?), etc. The focus is healing and a return to health which will require an analysis of what caused you to be in the need of a patch so that you don’t repeat the behavior in the future.
When do you take off the patch? You’ll know. When you’ve learned what you need to know, at least at this point in your growth. When you’ve discovered the most effective way of when, where, and how long to use a patch – remember, it’s not a permanent part. When you’re ‘ready’ to move on, knowing that the removal of a patch will be momentarily painful but also a powerful learning. As you can see… patches are important and they are an aid. But they are also external to you.
