The Root of Spiritual Pathology

Most of us assume our spiritual problems come from weakness, lack of discipline, or bad choices.

But Scripture suggests something far simpler:

the root problem is forgetting.

Not forgetting facts—but forgetting what we’ve already received, who we already are, and the value of both.

And when that kind of forgetting takes hold, anxiety, competition, and self-sabotage follow with chilling predictability.

This is not a modern diagnosis. The Bible names it again and again—and just as importantly, it offers a clear, practical, and surprisingly simple way to respond.

Forgetting Is the Root

In the biblical imagination, forgetting is never neutral.

It is the root of spiritual pathology (our patterns of repeating suffering and destruction).

Again and again, Scripture describes people who lose their footing

NOT because God has abandoned them,

but because they have lost touch with memory—

with what has already been given,

who they already are,

and the meaning of both.

When forgetting takes hold, it does not stay abstract.

It shows up in patterns we recognize immediately.

Three Symptoms of Forgetting

1. Riptide Anxiety

This is not ordinary concern.

It is anxiety that pulls you away from reality.

"Riptide anxiety" pulls us out into the deep where we can drown in unmoored confusion.

When we forget what we have already received, the present moment gets misread as scarcity. The nervous system shifts into threat mode.

Fear fills the imagination.

In Mark 8, the disciples panic about bread while sitting in a boat with the One who has already fed thousands—twice. The danger is not real. The forgetting is.

Anxiety, here, is not a lack of faith.

It is a failure of memory.

2. Competition

When identity is forgotten, worth must be proven.

Scarcity thinking narrows vision. Relationships turn competitive. Conversations shift from listening to defending. Neighbors become rivals.

In Mark 8, the disciples do not pray.

They do not ask questions.

They argue with one another.

Competition is not ambition gone wrong.

Competition is insecurity born from forgetting who we are and what has already been given.

3. Self-Sabotage

Over time, forgetting becomes embodied.

We resist formation.

We undermine our own healing.

We push away the very practices meant to restore us.

Why? Because forgetting erodes trust.

When we forget our value, we stop believing that good can endure—or that we can endure it. So we preemptively fail. We protect ourselves from disappointment by never fully receiving life.

Self-sabotage is forgetting expressed over time.

Jesus Names the Root

Jesus does not shame the disciples.

He diagnoses them.

“Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread?

Do you not yet understand?

Do you not remember?”

He does not scold their fear.

He confronts their amnesia.

And then he does something formative.

He asks them to count baskets.

Counting Baskets as Anti-Amnesia

“How many baskets did you gather?”

When we fed 5,000 with next to nothing?

Twelve baskets of leftovers.

When we just fed 4,000, with even less?

Seven big baskets.

The counting matters.

And the miracle is not only the multiplication of bread.

Now, in the counting of leftovers, there is a new miracle:

the formation of a people who can see, remember, and remain oriented toward life.

Counting baskets becomes an anti-amnesia liturgy.

A practice that restores memory, attention, and trust.

Some clarification. . .

Miracles vs. Baskets

In a miracle:

• You are not the center

• But you are fully immersed

• Life overwhelms death

• Good interrupts destruction

In the baskets:

• You are not the center

• But you get to carry the results

• You hold tangible evidence

• You remember together

Baskets are not explanations of the miracle.

They are evidence that you have been participating in one.

What Are Your Baskets?

Baskets are rarely dramatic.

They do not explain why something happened.

They simply witness that something happened.

They are evidence that life has been moving toward you—and that you have been caught up in that movement.

A long-silent relationship reopened by a single letter.

A community described as “weird” because love shows up when it shouldn’t.

A hummingbird hovering in the front yard.

A moment of calm after fear.

Strength returning slowly.

Help arriving quietly.

These are not conclusions. They are traces.

They tell the truth without solving the mystery.

Practicing Remembrance

In a distracted, anxious, competitive world, remembering does not happen automatically.

It must be practiced!

For the last 5 years, I've asked our morning prayer group to record our baskets every Friday morning, as an active exercise. I've typed out nearly 1,000 pages! Its one of my favorite things each week.

The Bible’s response to forgetting is not moral pressure—it is attentive remembrance. A way of noticing what has been given and naming where life has met us.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

A simple practice for this is available HERE

This practice is not about positivity.

It is about resisting forgetting.

Why This Matters

Because when we forget:

• anxiety takes over the body

• competition takes over relationships

• self-sabotage takes over our actions

But when we remember:

• fear loosens

• identity stabilizes

• healing becomes possible

Jesus does not offer the disciples new information.

He offers restored memory.

And that remains the work today.

Not more striving.

Not more proving.

But learning—together—how to remember.