One Ideal Appeals

Finished Tim LaHaye’s Why You Act The
Way You Do, deeply impressed with the
way he inveighs against temperaments,
explaining the melancholy as a sinful,
selfpitying martyr who can only over-
come by giving unconditional love

Smiling when the focused choleric stomps
on their dreams and sets their ideals alight
with the fire of their unquenchable ire, true
faith changes believers into wonderful dogs
and I have no canine attributes, being more
like a cat - of leopard persuasion

The melancholy’s focus on self is indication of
sin leading to eternal damnation; so be it, none
of those spiritual gifts La Haye states as general
possession of every Christian has manifested in
this melancholic’s life - to smile when taking an
emotional beating from the unfeeling only a mask

The way LaHaye blithely believes every problem
can be fixed by being faithful and good does not
seem to be reflected in the world we live in and
this is clearly our very own fault for being so un-
believing, quantum physics must be right, a
huge dose of devotion changes the world

Tim LaHaye created a special niche for him, his
wife and Ministry, wonderful testimony, admirable
integrity, I wonder why my attempts to increase in
holiness never led to such dizzying heights, only
one ideal still appeals: the quest for wisdom, to
understand the why, wherefore and how…

Why You Act The Way You Do – Tim LaHaye,
Tyndale House Publishers, Living Books
edition, 1984