The passage insisted that believing we are broken is a mistaken perception of our true nature. We are all, it went on, inherently virtuous and noble, but time covers us with layers and layers of experience. We often act badly, for the world is confusing. We are often hurt, because others get confused too. We hurt others because of our confusion. When we look in the mirror, when we build a metal image of ourselves, we see only these layers upon layers. We conclude that 'I am not a good person". But we are mistaken. This is not our true nature. Inside us all, under all those layers, despite years and years of neglect, there is still a virtuous and noble person waiting to be let out. We don't become good people. We simple cease to be deluded by the layers.
This reminds me that the start to a better life is not out there somewhere, out there is in the freak-show universe of spiritual guides, but rather, that the start of a better life was my own goodness and it was already inside me. Is had been there all along, under all those layers. Waiting for me. I just had to calm down, stop looking everywhere else for the answers and start letting it out.
This is about choosing the principles upon which we build our lives. This is about what we find fundamentally essential. With stakes this high, isn't it worth considering that we have let our bad experiences cloud out the good ones; that we night treat one another badly, but we are still good people; that there is an emotional inner life inside each of us no matter what we see on the outside...
Words of Po Bronson worth sharing.
2 comments:
A beautiful passage to return to after church tonight. My life has been burdened by events which occurred almost 25 years ago. I had convinced myself that I must have been a bad person to deserve carrying around so much guilt. First for someone to do me wrong so many years ago, then for failure to grant them forgiveness, although they asked numerous times. The problem of being so young and incapable of forgiving so many years ago. The experience completely changed my life and still does to this day. You labeled an earlier blog "men disappear", but sometimes women do too. 25 years later, a family, two children and a real career and I'm finally ready to forgive, but they left no forwarding address. My refound faith is now helping me to move on, remove those layers and realize if I wasn't a good person, I wouldn't have been blessed as I have been all of these years. From your writings it sounds like you, as I, need to move boldly into the future and leave the past behind us (as hard as it may sound). God bless you in your journey.
-Chet
I don't know what to say. (So why am I attempting a comment??) The world and its people combined with the layers of experience (seemingly more bad than good) do tend to make us believe we must be bad and deserving of the bad things that happen to us.
The thing to bear in mind (easier said than done) is nothing created by God can be "bad." He creates out of love. True, pure love is a good thing.
Therein lies our struggle: removing the layers, negative influences, and pretenses in order to get back to the point of the childlike faith that tells us God loves us simply because He does, not because of something we do.
And I love you, too!
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