Reflection for the Week - April 27

Systems of compensation for failed standard keeping never work. They are corrosive and rust our insides. Our hope of achieving an “OK” self if we “overdid that” and therefore “do this” will fail. True, there may be a place for standards in life, but they can’t be the grounding of who we perceive ourselves to be. The problem is that the “overdid that” and “do this” won’t give us what we long for – an ability to accept ourselves because of who we are and in spite of who we’re not. If we are to avoid a collapse into a vicious circle of self-condemnation, we need to embrace the living tension between freedom and responsibility founded on several informers, including: nature, humanity, and God, which all promote that our value, dignity, and worth are “already there” and thus not something that we earn by measuring up to self-made standards.