Petty Preoccupations
“Find that act, find that person, or find that community, which when you give yourself over to it with your whole heart, it unravels your petty preoccupation with your self-absorbed self. In doing so, it strangely brings you home to yourself.” (Jim Finley paraphrasing Meister Eckhart in a podcast)
Narcissism is defined as an inordinate fascination with oneself. Psychoanalysts consider it a normal condition at the infantile level of personality development. A certain amount of self-absorption and vanity is excusable in young people. Yet, we hope that somewhere on the road to maturity, we all find someone or something to which we can give ourselves wholeheartedly without expectations of reciprocity or validation.
Finding ourselves involves figuring out what takes us outside of our self-absorption. For me, this has come in the form of certain relationships. Love for my husband and my son has subdued my self-focus while igniting empathy, compassion, and selflessness within me. I am continually surprised by this overwhelming urge to give myself over to this love.
Love enables us to decrease. Once we are emptied of self, we become open to grace. Thus, human relationships must merely be a prelude to Divine intimacy.
(continued in next post)
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