Σίγουρα πήρε πολύ χρόνο να με βρεις, αλλά είμαι χαρούμενος για σένα παρ’ όλα αυτά.
Η παροιμία «ο χρόνος περνάει όταν διασκεδάζεις» είναι σίγουρα αληθινή. Προσθέστε σε αυτό, μάθηση, στοχασμό και αποκάλυψη και έχετε όλα τα στοιχεία της ευτυχισμένης ζωής.
Η αίσθησή μου είναι ότι μέρη σου έχουν συγγένεια με μερικά από τα αρθρώσεις και τα άκρα μου. Λοιπόν, τουλάχιστον είναι οικογενειακή υπόθεση.
Καλό που μπορέσαμε να συνδεθούμε. Φαίνεται σαν να έχει περάσει ένας αιώνας, τουλάχιστον.
Well, not the last thing. But this morning when I came upon it, some things in life were no longer Greek to me.
Sorry. It’s genetic.
The parable of the prodigal son in today’s gospel according to Luke, related the story of the two sons, that in their own ways, left their father. The younger, requested his inheritance up front, bid adieu to his loving father and travelled to a “distant country” – chora mokra.
The elder, though he chose to remain at home, made the same trek, in his own way, far away from his father, also to chora mokra. Distancing himself from that unconditional love through resentment, anger and jealousy.
While chora mokra is often ranslated as “distant country”, the reflection that followed from Bishop Barron brought to mind the literal meaning in a spiritual emphasis.
“The great emptiness”.
Think about that now for a moment.
The younger son took his inheritance in advance, a slap in the face of his loving father, to splurge it on a venture laden with debauchery that only served to wrought upon him a great emptiness.
In mind.
Body.
And soul.
Meanwhile, the elder son, remaining at home out of duty, disguising ego, discredited his father’s genuine love for him and his sibling in a fit of jealous resentment. In so doing, he too found his own way into the great emptiness. Removing himself from his father and what he was gifted unconditionally, in a childish fit of spite. Bringing with its own inherent brand of emptiness.
Of mind.
Body.
And soul.
Both went their own way, literally and figuratively, to a distant country.
And both were warmly welcomed back from their chora makra.
I am going to step back on this one and do a deep dive on failure.
There! I finally used that sterling expression I heard multiple times at “meetings” in the business world. Wait. Just thought of an even better one. Almost pornographic in construction. “Pull back the kimono.” Now there is a gem. There, I think I met my KPI’s for the day. But once again, sorry folks, I digress….
In my estimation, failure is less an event than it is a mindset. There is some veracity to other more cliche’ utterances, like “doomed to fail”, “repeating history” and the one closest to my personality and experience, “setting himself up for failure.” All are mental and attitudinal precursors to hitting bottom.
When you go about things perched on a pedastal of your own construction, things are not likely to flow well. They may appear as together and synchronous from the outside, about a layer or two down, but when you get down at the core, things are an absolute mess.
Ego is the culprit. From whatever cause, for whatever reason, by any means necessary, ego can sink the ship. Does the name Titanic ring a bell?
It might be a need to be right. Always. To have all of the answers. Always. Control every situation and outcome. Always. Sit in judgement of others. Always.
Be God.
It could also be the salve for damages incurred at the hands of others.
The ever deep bruises of shame. The emptiness wrought by no esteem. Allowing others to assess your worth and value. Not having a clue as to who you are or how others see you.
Those just provided right there pretty much sums up the triggers leading to my foray in to ego. A way of being that created my environment fertile for failure. Decades in the making. And unbreaking.
Failures of my own making.
First, they started off as the small, just brush them off varieties, promoting dishonesty.
Giving growth to “….well, I will just be more careful next time”. Another layer or three of self deception and duplicity.
Finally, leaving port and moving onto a succession of personal Titanics.
“Iceberg?”
Let me tell you, treading water for a couple of years inspired me to accept the preserver of humility, truth and faith. Lasting and finally honest life lessons. Now that I found dry land, I am happy to say I am working my way into more of the AP curriculum these days.
How one could ever promote a deeper dive by pulling back the kimono is lost on me.
