Saturday, Week 2 - Shedding Our False Self

"Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly, and cleanse your heart from all sin" (Sirach 38:10).

    Transforming Presence, layers and layers of my false self keep being stripped away from me. I walk with caterpillar feet, knowing that the skin must be shed time and again before I find my butterfly wings. I look at the old discarded peelings of the person I thought I was with some dismay and sadness, but also with some relief and joy.
    With every lifted layer, I feel lighter. With every painful peeling, I am freer. With every discarded skin, I stretch deeper. With every sloughed off segment, I grow wiser. Keep teaching me, Freedom Bringer, that it is never too late to embrace the changes that lead to my truest self. Keep nudging me away from confining security when I cling too tightly to what needs to go.
    Continue to attune my spirit to your song of ongoing transformation. Remind me daily that I will always have another layer that needs to be shed.

    Well it's been several days since I've managed to sit down and fulfill my promise to pray intentionally. I have learned, relatively recently (over the past couple of years), not to beat myself up too much over such imperfections -- I fully acknowledge my shortcomings, but letting this fact get to me only hinders my ability to rebound and do a better job moving forward.
    I think the most challenging aspect of this series of reflections from Sr. Joyce that I have been exposed to over the last few weeks is the existence of two seemingly conflicting messages. The first message is this, as expressed into tonight's reflection: Now is the time to become the person you are meant to be. The second message, though, says: Be patient.
    Each of these statements, standing alone, are very appealing. They seem like sound practices for a healthy spiritual development, etc. But when the first is heard with the second in mind, there is definitely a tension that I feel. I feel the pull in two directions, and it makes me think. Just think.
    And maybe that's the point. To think, at least regarding these topics, is to pray. And to pray, and pray often, is the first step in the right direction.