Friday March 9, 2012
What to read for
today.
Chapter 14:Integrity
Questions for your
personal reflection.
What would it be like “to have the humility to be yourself
[and] not be like anyone else in the whole universe”?
Posted by Genevieve.
Posted by Second Thoughts
ReplyDeleteThis was a beautiful and inspiring chapter. I don't think I had ever thiought about the relationship between integrity and humility before. What this chapter was saying was that rather than being an egotistical act, it is an act of humility to be yourself. It requires courage too because it can't be about following the crowd or subscribing to fashion. You have to be alone.
I started to think about how much I compare myself to others and how much I let my identity be distorted by that. I want to be like others who are more productive, or more polific in their works. I try to figure out why other people are more financially successful that I am. Maybe I am not intended to be a money maker in this world. Thomas Merton would say that maybe God has other plans for me. It is my job to find out what that is and it can't be done by looking at the other guy. This must be what Merton is talking about when he keeps telling us to work out our true identity and that it's painful to do.
Intergity- being yourselfsuch a simple idea -but so hard for us to do- and in being yourself -you are humble and humbled- this makes you special and completely ordinary at the same time.- I think I understand that -the duality means that you have acheived a space where you are being yourself in in competition with no one and that this in reality makes you very special as not very many people can accoplish this. the humility to simply accept this and go about an veryday life completes the picture.
ReplyDeletethis to me was a beautiful image that gives me hope for humankind and a real goal to strive for personally.
post by william