Words to Think On

Sometimes in my morning readings, I find many words to think on:

If I am not at peace with myself, I make others pay for my unhappiness.

Those who close themselves off from love of others, close themselves off from what is best about themselves.

I’m convinced that people several centuries ago didn’t find it as hard to love themselves as we do now. The rejection of God over the last three centuries was accompanied by the illusion that guilt would be eliminated in this way and human beings would finally be free and happy. But those who thought like that forgot something: without God, humankind must carry on its own the weight of distress, misery, and failings of all kinds. Self-esteem must be based on the certitude that, whatever happens, I am loved and I can love. And only God can guarantee that.

One of the most authentic expressions of the desire for truth is humility: the ability to recognize one’s errors, to allow oneself to be educated by others and by life, to escape the trap of always having to be right and getting to have the last word, which does so much harm to relationships and often gets in the way of truth.

Another indispensable attitude is that of consent to the situation in which we find ourselves, especially consent to suffering.

Another attitude necessary for discerning God’s calls is willingness to be accompanied. No one is self-sufficient. As St. John of the Cross remarks, God wills that we need one another: “God is extremely pleased that people are governed and directed by other people similar to themselves.” How good it is to know that one can turn to someone else and speak candidly about what one is experiencing, in the confidence that this is a way of receiving God’s light!
Called to Life (pp 70-81), by Jacques Philippe