Musings of the Mind

From Hierarchy Trauma to Ontological Stability For much of my adult life, I have reacted intensely to being belittled. The reaction is physical. Immediate. Often disproportionate to the present moment. For a long time, I thought this was about ego or external validation. It is not. It is about legitimacy. The Original Injury When a father repeatedly belittles a child — privately or publicly — the child’s nervous system learns: Visibility is dangerous. Emergence threatens authority. Status can be stripped. Legitimacy is negotiable. That becomes a survival template. Belittling later in life activates this imprint. The limbic system reads: Belittling → Positional Threat → Existential Danger. But that template is false. The Two Levels of Legitimacy There are two layers of legitimacy that cannot be erased. 1️⃣ Ontological Legitimacy Every human being is made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 establishes intrinsic worth before achievement, before reputation, before hi...

Reversal or Repentance? DARVO Patterns in the King James Bible Modern psychology has coined the acronym DARVO : Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. It describes a pattern in which someone confronted with wrongdoing refuses responsibility, shifts blame, and ultimately portrays themselves as the true victim. While the term is modern, the pattern is ancient. The King James Bible records it with remarkable clarity. From Eden to the kings of Israel to the trial of Christ, we see two opposing responses to exposure: Reversal — self-protective blame-shifting Repentance — ownership before God The difference between the two is moral courage. I. Saul and David: Reversal vs Repentance Saul: The Anatomy of Reversal 1 Samuel 15 (KJV) King Saul is commanded by God to utterly destroy Amalek. He does not. He spares King Agag and keeps the best livestock. When the prophet Samuel confronts him, Saul opens with confidence: “I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” (1 Samu...