Psychology is a favorite college class for many students, irrespective of their major field of study.  I have found it interesting; management, sales, and other fields incorporate aspects of it in their textbooks.  I discovered why this is true recently, when I wrote a book on my life story and asked my three children if they would read the first draft and provide feedback.  I followed up with each of them, to see if they had finished it; the first said, “No I’ve been too busy to finish it”, the next said, “I read some of it on vacation, but I seldom read books, as I prefer to listen to audio books.”  The last one said, “No, I just haven’t finished it.”  It has been quite a while now, and the answer came to me — my children were just interested in reading the part about themselves, then they stopped.  This is why we all seem to like Psychology 101, it is about us, after that we lose interest.  Of course, my book may not be either the most compelling story, nor very well written.

Perhaps the ego or self is what makes us uniquely human, but it is commonly the characteristic that creates most of the trouble in the world as well in our individual lives.  C.S. Lewis once noted that a survey was taken asking what was the greatest attribute.  The answer was overwhelmingly — Unselfishness.  Yet, forty or so years ago the answer was — Love.  We can not make ourselves unselfish, but by God’s mercy we can accept and pursue love.  Moreover, God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. (Rom 5: 5).  Listen to God’s word: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms….” (Deut. 33: 27).  What great love, hope and freedom can be found in the “Everlasting arms”.