Saturday, July 10, 2010

The Pride of Imperfection

WOW - as I finish up my step 7 work this week I needed this kick in the pants - would LOVE a friend like this in my life who can speak the truth so plainly to me:

All this preoccupation with your own imperfection is not humility, but an insidious form of spiritual pride. What do you expect to be? A saint? There are desperately few of them; and even they found their faults, which are the raw material of sanctity remember. You know best when and how you fall into these various pitfalls. Try and control yourself when you see the temptation coming. Pull yourself up and make an act of contrition when you catch yourself doing any of the things.

Never allow yourself to be pessimistic about your own state. Look outward instead of inward; and when you are inclined to be depressed and think you are getting on badly, make an act of thanksgiving instead because others are getting on well. The object of your salvation is God's Glory, not your happiness. So, be content to help, remaining yourself in the lowest place. Merge yourself in the great life of the Christian family. You have tied yourself up so tight in that accursed individualism of yours--the source of all your difficulties--that it is a marvel you can breathe at all.

Source: The Letters of Evelyn Underhill

Read more and add your thoughts at inward/outward

1 comment:

Sarah Louise said...

Bobbi,

you do have some friends like that. It's another point of pride to think "no one cares about me that much."

So I'll say it--there's no perfect man or woman on this earth.

And I'll sing the refrain from that song: "your weakness is his opportunity." I know I didn't get it right, but it's the truth. Your humanity is what makes you reachable. It's what makes you relatable.

Who would you find it easier to be friends with, the Pope in all his garb, or a guy from Poland who knows a lot of languages? They were the same person in John Paul II. Just like you are the same person on the outside and the inside.

I love you, my sister,

xo,
SL