self filled with self
by JVS on Mar.15, 2008, under 2008, Sermons
This morning I was struck by the horribly deceptive and debilitating irony of self absorption. As people become more and more self interested, oriented, and centred, they become less. In the futile attempt to fully find themselves, be themselves, meet their own needs, to matter; they actually end up losing themselves. The more one thinks about oneself, and acts in selfish ways, the less value and impact that person’s life has in their world…
Isn’t this so tragically ironic? And isn’t this a parable of our human condition; especially as it plays out in our narcissistic , consumeristic, ‘self-help’istic western culture? Acting in ways to ‘benefit’ self even as we diminish ourselves? And then, as we increasingly diminish, desperately engaging the spiral with even more myopic energy? It’s insane. And then, adding irony to irony, becoming increasingly less human, less valuable, less worth the respect of others as a result.
It’s happening everywhere… in peoples’ marriages, friendships, communities, and spiritual lives.
Think about the people who’ve had the greatest impact in this world; in your life. They flourished because they helped others flourish; helped you. It wasn’t about them. They engaged in the most counter intuitive kinds of lives – not seeking self – and then found themselves.
Surely Jesus had it right when he said, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.”
The gospel of Luke 17:33, New Living Translation
“Let your life go [into me]…” was his inference of course!
