“What I like about experience is that it is such an honest thing…You may have deceived yourself, but experience is not trying to deceive you. The universe rings true wherever you fairly test it.” Surprised by Joy, ~C. S. Lewis
It has been said that the human person is not what we say we are, but of what we fail to disclose for fear of appearing less than we wish to appear to be. Unmasking our inner person is never an easy choice for many there is the prospect of exposing warts, and other unattractive features best kept secreted for fear of appearing flawed, often leading us to believe that we should aspire to being the face of all that we wish the world to believe, that we are not.
The ego and self esteem are not harmonious bed fellows despite being perceived to be so, there being an awareness that each of us learns from our stumbling moments, that a fall restores our sense of equilibrium sufficiently to learn the lessons that led us to fall into our self imposed trap that we know better.
Self deception leads us by the nose harnessing us into its snare sufficiently for us to believe that we are immune from criticism when also believing that we are better than others.
“If you think of this world as a place simply intended for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place for training and correction and it's not so bad.”― C.S. Lewis
Foolishness is a human trait that inspires us to self improve through the experience of correcting that which led us to act foolishly.
None is denied our birth right to self improvement; for none is perfect.
Hebrews 12:7-11 (NIV)
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
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