Self, seen

In the mailbox…

Can you think of an era or nation or culture that did not oppose otherness? …. It seems we ordinary humans must have our other! It appears we don’t know who we are except by opposition and exclusion. That we are the negative energy our ego seeks to export, which then sees and also creates that negative energy in others, is a challenge few accept. The ego strongly resists seeing this in itself, and struggles to refute any such challenge. Seeing takes foundational conversion from the egoic self and most have not undergone that transformation. We can only give away that we ourselves have experienced and become. – Fr. Richard Rohr (adapted, edited).

None of us are perfect in this regard. Even the best, most positive and loving have our moments. Even the worst, most negative have had moments. Without contemplation, reflection, we are, as my Aunt Tommy oft remarked, “a pot calling the kettle black.” Learning how to suspend judgment is a life-lesson many, if not most of us, miss. Where did you go to school?