Once the gas is lit, KABOOM!

Not everything we see we believe. Think of the times we’re at traffic lights and our own eyes see the signals turn from red to green, yet we hesitate, not wanting to go forward until we see other cars move forward.

It happens in relationships all the time.

We believe the compelling witness… even when they’re lying through their teeth.

Especially if someone is authoritative, there are many situations where our default is to let them have their way, even if it means others suffer. This is a manipulation of more than the one who is directly suffering. We, ourselves, are being played. We’re manoeuvred into a position where the person doing the manipulation wants us.

This is gaslighting. And when the person who must deny the reality they know to be true is directly impacted, like it’s their reality and they’re the ones who suffer, it is even more poignant and reprehensible.

Gaslighting is a social phenomenon and not only can it easily be demonstrated as a phenomenon that is easily arranged, it’s a phenomenon that works nearly every time; unless our eyes have been opened to see it. Yes, of course, it takes seemingly enormous faith to trust what our eyes saw, but that’s not the half of it. It’s the standing up to the person who lords it over us that’s the key issue.

Once we’ve seen the cunning of gaslighting in its dark array of coercion, once we’ve seen its destructive patterns in full covert force, the real advantage we have is now we begin to see it in other arenas. Once our eyes are open, they cannot be shut. This is both a blessing for discernment, but also a curse, for we’re liable to advocate. We can stay silent no more. And opening our mouths is fraught with danger. We stick our head above the parapet wall, and we can expect to have it blown off.

Once the gas is lit, KABOOM!

Once we see that gas, in all its flammability, and it is brought into partnership with an ignition source, it can only create what explosions create; impact and devastation.

One thing people need from us, when we’ve learned to discern the wiles of optical illusion, is the testimony of true witness. We can call boldly to what we and they actually saw. We can tell it like it was and is. We can find words to describe it.

Doing so sheds light on the darkness, just like in the presence of a beam the darkness hides. Light bearers are destined to be placed in areas and situations of darkness.

Don’t be afraid to be the advocate. See the truth and report the truth, without hesitation, without someone with perhaps malevolent or misguided motives convincing you otherwise.

Once the gas is lit, KABOOM!

Once we have seen what we’ve seen, and especially once we’ve drawn attention to it, we must expect the heat of the explosion to impact us. We must expect that the person we expose will not like it. We must expect that they will feel, “How is their audacity?!” We must expect that we will be burned.

It takes great courage to see and then to report what we see, especially when that will mean there is heat coming our way. Look after yourself, therefore, and prioritise your self-care, your support network, as well as whatever you have to reinforce your vision for what took place.

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash