Self-deception

Three experiences compel my attention; watching actors chew on good scripts, reading quotable authors and encountering the wise apostle who can flip you on your ear with the turn of a phrase.
On TV this week Peter, the saavy politician in "The Good Wife" who wandered from his marriage, meets with a black pastor on the advice of his campaign manager. He's out for the black women's vote, freely admitting he has no understanding or interest in a Savior who died for his sins. Meanwhile, back at the office, his good wife Alicia succumbs to tempation, locks lips with her boss, comes to her senses and runs home to sate her lust with her husband.
Noticing the time Peter is spending with the pastor, she asks,
"Are you becoming religious?"
"I don't know," he answers, "I want to change," he says, tapping two fingers to his heart. Then he tells her the pastor wants them to attend church.
"That would be interesting," she says with a decided lack of interest, and heads back to her separate bedroom.
Hold that thought. Then consider a quote from William James on self-deception:
"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."
Back to "The Good Wife." Alicia thinks she is being a good wife because she is trying to avoid temptation. She'd be shocked to think she had used her husband for his body, but been largely uninterested in the state of his soul. What prejudices did she rearrange when she ran home to the arms of her husband and made love without forgiveness? (In the spirit of full disclosure, I need to say that I love both these characters.)
And now to the apostle. Years ago, Paul turned my faith on it's ear when he nailed me for the distance between what I want to do and what I actually do (I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Romans 7:15).
One of the painful things about writing is that it requires honesty. What am I not honest about? Today I picked up a book titled "i told me so; self-deception and the christian life" by Gregg A. Ten Elsoff. This should be an adventure!