Listening With Critical Eyes

Fidgeted and fussed

Yesterday I forced myself to objectively listen to and watch the Prime Minister of Canada give a speech. Behind him to his right, the Deputy Prime Minister fidgeted and fussed, looked here, then there, and back again. She was shifty and clearly experiencing discomfort. The PM on the other hand was calm and steady as he described his own activities and their resultant consequences, while attributing them to those that refuse to comply with his dictated mandates. 

When I described this to a friend of mine, she stated "Mirroring totally". That was a couple of hours ago. Just now I experienced one of those ah ha moments, perking up with an understanding of this technique. It is not new to me and I have been taught the skill on more than one occasion in counselling and coaching courses, but to use mirroring for gaslighting and maniacal manipulation is foreign and so wicked, it slipped past me like a phantom in the night! 

Establish trust

Mirroring a person's body language, facial expressions and even tone, can bring about empathetic unity, and comfort the one being mirrored. This is useful if someone is anxious or nervous about sharing for the first time, and it helps establish trust. It is reassuring to have someone seemingly feel what you feel and respond the way you do. The mirroring must not be practiced or mechanical, it is not a manufactured way of establishing rapport. I state this while assuming that the person in the counselling or coaching seat, has the best of intentions for their client and actually does experience empathy, and compassion too, while their client is sharing. 

Perpetrator feigning innocence

Not so with those that not only want to set tone, but deliberately direct a captive audience to look where they point, to prove that someone else is a threat, and dangerous to their well-being. The deflecting leader establishes a power imbalance to create the impression that they are the protector, defending the victim from the murderous villain. It is a triangulation set up. The falsified hero of the story in this scenario is sneaky, and in actuality a perpetrator feigning innocence. 

Counterfeit kindess

The Canadian PM is masterful in his comfortingly quiet gentle tones, his soft facial expressions, and his shifting from foot to foot while scanning, to engage the reporters in attendance when he does a press release. With counterfeit kindness, he spews venomous lies, describing despotic behaviours that he engages in shamelessly, while attributing them to those that behave in polarized opposite ways. He is playing to a small and previously seduced crowd that cannot face the damning truth, that they were duped. He must hold them to his sorry story to keep them in a state of stupor in order to continue his conniving. 

The heart is wicked according to scripture, and there is evidence of this truth all around us. 

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked : who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

Naïveté

The mistake I see many making repeatedly, is not comprehending the existence of evil. Some people are committed to executing wickedness on every possible level. Naïveté and self-indulgence lead a sizeable number of the population to believe most people are "good", but this is clearly not what scripture indicates. We are like naughty children that perpetually want our own way, and must be disciplined and corrected in order to show any signs of remotely being "good". This is why so many of us feel perennially bad! We know what we are capable of thinking, saying, and doing. The difference between a wicked person and a contrite one, is conscience! It hurts a bad person that wants to be good, when they betray God or their fellow man. Not so with the chronically psychopathic.

Words as weapons

The PM has had extensive training in narcissistic navigations. He is charming while aiming sharp objects at his opponents, using words as weapons. To argue with him is a fools endeavour, and a waste of time never to be retrieved. He lies proficiently, and manages to stay resolute despite the waves of hate directed at him from all quarters of the globe. He is adept as a salesman of savagery but underneath it all, he has been bolstered and bubble wrapped for this moment in the crimson glow of the blood moon. The indoctrinated are the indoctrinators, and the funny thing is, he has no clue that he is subject to God, as he attempts to secure his own kingdom here on earth. 

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple (Romans 16:17-18)

Eating mud pie

He has a hellish father and cohorts that speak the same vile language of lies. But he is want to understand that his demise is imminent. Clearly the drama teacher did not study with seriousness, the history of men that behaved as he does. It is only a matter of time before we each get our just desserts, and some will be eating mud pie a little sooner than others! Not that I can predict death dates, dear one! I just acknowledge here, that we will all return to the dust of the earth when our days on it are done. 

Pray for him

Christians all over the world are praying for the PM and those he influences. We simply must for the sake of their souls, and because God commands us to do so. Believe me when I tell you that praying for him requires humility after witnessing what he has done. But I know from personal experience, that no one is beyond God's reach!  

While I periodically pray for the repentance of the PM and his underlings, along with all the wicked ones that have committed heinous criminal acts, I pray more for those that have suffered at the hands of the blood thirsty. God help them as they face the trials and tribulations that await them when they reconcile themselves with Truth. 

Sanctity of life

In the mean time we see the actual meanness of those that speak violence and death. Those for whom the sanctity of life is a mere trifle to be toyed with. They are the ones that are duly warned thusly:

Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed : for in the image of God made he man (Genesis 9:6)

God takes image bearing seriously. We are to be reflections of Him and His love. The wicked reflect their father, and LORD help them, I don't know how they can look in the mirror without scaring the hell out of themselves 😈 

We must listen with critical eyes. This is a hearing and watching skill set that we can develop so that the detection of frauds is made simple when they are in our faces! Use this technique to save yourself from being duped:

• Watch
• Listen
• Learn
• Discern
• Read scripture and compare men to Christ not to other men

Let us end in prayer

Dear God:

We pray for the salvation of souls, including those that have travelled far from you. We know that no-one is beyond your reach, and our hope is repentance for the Prime Minister of Canada. 

Please forgive me Father, for my irritation in his continued position of power. Your timing is perfect, and I am repeatedly reminded that You are Sovereign, and since You created the universe and all creatures inhabiting earth, I will relinquish what I perceive as personal control over the situation, once again to Your will and Your way. 

In Jesus Risen Name

Our Father, who art in heaven ...