On Speaking One's Mind

Last night's patient on House suddenly lost the ability to filter what he thought from what he said - suddenly every thought that crossed his mind was spoken aloud for all to hear, and he had no control over it. It turns out this character was a highly self-regulating man: he had a lot of sexual thoughts and degrading opinions, but he'd worked hard throughout his life to filter himself so that he was socially acceptable, so that he was supportive of his wife (even if he secretly thought her work was dumb), etc. Throughout the course of the episode, hs said many hurtful things to his wife and daughter (though his wife admittedly asked loaded questions), and when he was finally cured at the end, he and his wife left the room, with definite tension between them, but still an optimistic determination to rebuild what was ruined by the revelations of his infection.

I can't imagine living a life like the one that man must have led: brimming with thoughts, ideas, opinions, fantasies, yet hiding them from absolutely everyone and living behind a mask so as to be acceptable, so as to function in society, so as to care for one's family.

Perhaps I'm simply spoiled by the Christian mentality I've grown up in: He that looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart, and all that. And that does seem to me to be the point: if you're not a good person on the inside, doesn't it make you a bit of a sham to be one on the outside? Perhaps that's why Dr. House thinks everyone who seems like a good person is just a hypocrite: because he hasn't yet encountered Christ through a Christian who truly lives his faith.

Although the priest from this recent episode was a good start. We Christians do seem to be making inroads into Hollywood, albeit very slowly...