One's Christian life will fail if it is not rooted in the truth of human nature, which we all share, like it or not. Similarly, everyone's life, whether Christian or non-Christian or anti-Christian, will fail if it's not rooted in reality. And reality, the reality of people, includes hidden drives, hidden emotions, hidden disappointments, and hidden resentments.

As the Rose Hobart character remarks, almost offhandedly, in "Susan and God" (1940), "No one ever says what they're really thinking." (I love Rose Hobart!)

The point of my Mockingbird podcasts that concern romantic love is to underline what's often really going on -- otherwise, how can you explain the extraordinary and seemingly uncharacteristic decisions about their relationships that otherwise "adult" people seem constantly able to make? If you don't know yourself, if you're unable to diagnose the drives and feelings that overtake you sometimes, then you'll just be blown about by the wind. And possibly blow your own life to smithereens one day. (That happens every day.)

In the 1970s the vocal group Blue Magic recorded a song entitled "Stop and Get a Hold of Yourself". The song is good but not great. The lyrics, on the other hand, are for the ages. The singer realizes something's happened, and it's upset his world. Therefore he wants to "stop and get a hold of (him)self". Good luck! Wish he could have listened to this cast, which, incidentally, is DEDICATED TO DEBBIE BRAZEAL AND ROBIN ANDERSON.