Good morning…
We deepen down into the statement, “When we emerge from this global pandemic, we will be either a drunk, a hunk, a chunk or a monk!” Do we see the two-sided invitation of each temporary state? The drunk may be driven to surrender, craving an intimate connection to our Higher Power. The hunk may get caught up in the vicious cycle of comparing and competing before pride leads to a fall. The chunk may begin to sense, “Beneath my self-protective layers, I am seen, known, and deeply loved by God.” The monk may be prone to hide inside, ignoring the tangible needs of others knocking on the door. These four descriptors, drunk, hunk, chunk, monk, are just passing states, each serving to draw us deeper into dependency upon God.
A few weeks back, I was drawn to a meditation by Henri Nouwen.
******
DAILY MEDITATION | JANUARY 17, 2021: Accept Your Whole Self — the Light and the Dark
It is very difficult for each of us to believe in Christ’s words, “I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners. . . .” Perhaps no psychologist has stressed the need of self-acceptance as the way to self-realization so much as Carl Jung. For Jung, self-realization meant the integration of the shadow. It is the growing ability to allow the dark side of our personality to enter into our awareness and thus prevent a one-sided life in which only that which is presentable to the outside world is considered as a real part of ourselves. To come to an inner unity, totality and wholeness, every part of our self should be accepted and integrated. Christ represents the light in us. But Christ was crucified between two murderers and we cannot deny them, and certainly not the murderers who live in us.
******
We each walk with our own shadow. To come to an inner unity, totality and wholeness, every part of our self is welcomed into acceptance and integration over our lifetime, accepted and integrated by the help of God’s indwelling Spirit. Jesus heard about it and spoke up, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out” (Luke 5:32, MSG). Being changed inside and out is a lifelong process orchestrated by our Creator, a process marked by a maturing acceptance of our whole self – our light and our dark, our sunny and our shadow.
…Sue…
