We can patiently accept not being good. What we cannot bear is not being considered good, not appearing good.—St. Francis of Assisi
It has been said that there is no finer way to treat people than to accept them as they are.
A truly spiritual exercise is to accept people as we perceive them to be...that all but ensures we upgrade our perception! There'd be no such spiritual exercise needed if from the start we accepted people sans our less-than judgments.
Our egoic driver is the gnawing want within to be appreciated...approved of...ah, emulated. Which brings its own thorn in the flesh. To be emulated...copied...is flattering, albeit without attribution, irritating in the extreme, invariably with resentment following. Ego, our lover, our plague.
This, then, is our mental/spiritual crossroads.
Unbeknownst to the material mind, our spiritual growth has brought us to the depths of a mountain top, showing itself as our need to do but to do the opposite of our want-to that we've dressed up so prettily. In fact, to do that which elicits more pity than praise...oh my, the mortifying pain of it!
Comes the dawn of recurring truth: The less we are recognized and notarized, the closer we come to Be.
Thank you.
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