Dear Ones,
Hope you had a great weekend and time to be refreshed. We got some much needed rain and now the sun is trying to peek out. This morning I made some egg dishes and went to my exercise class but had to postpone going to Aldi’s as it was storming then.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I hope we all have asked the question, “Who am I?”; not who I appear to others on the surface, not who others expect me to be, but the real me.  We live in a very superficial culture today, with so many living shallow lives, presenting only the best side of ourselves that we might put on Facebook. But do we know ourselves, not by looking in the mirror but by being transparent? That means discarding our fig leaves and expressing our authentic selves, rather than living by the expectations of others or how we want ourselves to appear. This self-acceptance also means that we will become aware of the shadows in our lives, the hidden dark things, without having to dress up to look better; that is very humbling.
As I have written in the past, I desire not to be self-conscious but my authentic self, who God made me to be. I like what Thomas Merton said, “Unless we discover this deep self, which is hidden with Christ in God, we will never know ourselves as persons, nor will we know God. For it is by the doors of this deep self that we enter into the spiritual knowledge of God.” It is tempting to just remain superficial but when we play roles like actors, it really is sin for we become alienated from God. How much better to simply be ourselves as we are in God’s sight and be like a window that His light can shine through.  That means that we need to continually die to our false self that wants to be in charge and maintain control without interference from others or even God. But as we get in touch with our true self and are willing to let false self go, we will see our own miserable condition and seek God’s grace and mercy.  God loves us even in our messes and none of it blocks His love from us. But He wants us to be honest, to let go of our superficial ego that wants to live for ourselves, and instead live in the freedom and love that He extends to us. Let our prayer be that of Michael Casey’s in his chapter on The Grace of Self-knowledge, “Loving Father, You have created us in your own image so that we might come to know you and love you. Help us to live in the truth of what you have designed us to be, casting away all falsehood and delusion and living in the freedom that belongs to your children. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen!”
Challenge for today: Ask for God’s grace to die to your own ego and let your true self emerge.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy