The things we really need come to us
only as gifts, and in order to receive them as gifts we have to be
open. In order to be open we have to renounce ourselves, in a sense
we have to die to our image of ourselves, our autonomy, our fixation
upon our self-willed identity.
~Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a
Guilty Bystander
This is a lesson I've been working on for the past few years. It is such a powerful struggle. There are moments of understanding ~ yes, I am loved simply because I am.
And then there is the wounded ego, terrified of dying, clamouring for attention.
The challenge is to find ways of having compassion for the loud and dramatic ego - to keep from falling into its fear and pain - and persevere, trusting the Voice that says, You are my beloved.
