This collage was inspired by a quote taken from the non-fiction book, “A Sanctuary of Outcast” by Neil White. It hangs in my home and serves as a reminder.
The quote was attributed to an elderly black woman who spent all but the first six years of her life at Carville, LA socially abandoned with physical disfigurement caused by Hansen’s disease and social ignorance. She was no longer concerned with what other people thought of her. She knew who she was and was not ashamed.
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Fear and hiding our true self has primordial origins. We have forgotten that fear is not of God.
In the Genesis story after the fall , God called to the humans, “Where are you?” The human answered, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked?” That is, “Humanity, who told you that you were bad? Who told you that you were not what you should be, …Who told you that you were separated from me, that you were guilty?”
We all struggle to accept our true identity in God and our spiritual freedom; for it requires us to continually change our mind about who God is, about who we are and about who Christ is.
Striving to live open and honest is not easy. It must be desired and lived each day open to constant conversion. Truth is, whether we live our true self or false self, people will still place their judgment on us. You will either be accepted, rejected, or simply ignored. In total, we experience all three.
Regardless of what people think of you, At the end of the day, do you lay your head down content in your holy and pure heart, or do you stay awake with anxiety and shame?
In John 6, Jesus replies to an unbelieving crowd who take offense to his hard sayings, “…the words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” Afterwards, many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Will you also go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?”
Peter’s response is one of those universal questions about what we chose to guide our own life. If we rely solely upon our own judgment, we fall into a relativism which says that I get to judge what is good and what is evil, “I am the center of the universe.” This is the sin of Adam and Eve, …the sin of Pride, and who has not lived long enough to see its many faces of evil and destruction?
The Holy Spirit is no doubt operative in our lives and the Ignatian exercises of discerning Spirit is good but it cannot stand alone. If we think so, let’s go back to Genesis and consider how subtle the evil spirit led Eve to eat of the fruit.
Is there a greater written Wisdom available to man than what is found in Scripture, particularly the gospels?
To apply the gospel as a standard in which to further develop one’s personality and daily actions is not a romantic venture. It will lead you to the cross as it did to Jesus. This is courage to be.
Where in the gospel do you find yourself?
