July 8, 2009
-
A lifelong refusal to live
What if the world was filled with brilliant color and light? What if God gave us bodies to explore and map an entire world which started in mystery?
True holiness is found in humility. Some agents of good have never been seen nor praised.
You are the person who knows all your thoughts, but there are people who have not heard of you or your thoughts at all.
And would it be good if they did? Billions of agents carry on about their lives, totally ignorant that you exist; but perhaps today one of them will meet you. Will it be a good day for that person?
Our imaginations are what make us morally culpable. We are all able to imagine acts of kindness, of service, of grace, which we then fail to perform.
Can we imagine holy lives?
But our wills are frail and weak, and so holy we do not become.
What if you were placed in a world of eternally important creatures, and were supposed to love any and all of them that you could? What if you were allowed into a place where you could decide how to talk and act; what would you do?
Humility is not assuming you are unimportant; quite the opposite. A creature of no importance would not be called to be humble. It would not matter what a creature of no importance did.
We wake up morning by morning, but our will to love stays asleep. We must stay away from people until we can wake it up.
Do we plan our lives so that we will be most able to love other people?
What if your body wasn’t yours, but was just a loan to let you be in reality for a short time? What if it was an amazing thing to be alive?
Comments (6)
Reminds me of the C.S. Lewis quote about never meeting a mere mortal.
And this sentence: “We must stay away from people until we can wake it up.” reminded me of Dallas Willard: “I became so convinced of my ignorance about God and the soul that I thought I was a public hazard.”
Good thoughts.
Wow. Great post. I love your mind.
This reminded me of a quote by Dorotheos of Gaza. It was something along the lines of “Humility is the foundation on which the palace of Righteousness is raised.” I often suspect that none of the other virtues can exist in a person if they do not posses at least some humility.
indeed
“And would it be good if they did? Billions of agents carry on about their lives, totally ignorant that you exist; but perhaps today one of them will meet you. Will it be a good day for that person?”
I love this. It reminds me of talking to random strangers and just being one with the day you are in.
Potently poetic and meaningful post, really enjoyed it. I want to email it to myself and read it again later.