One of the first goals of a Kairos weekend is to get the participants to get to know themselves. Before we can recognize our need for Christ, we need to know ourselves. This seems simplistic but how often do we really take a good look at ourselves. A significant spiritual exercise from the early days of the Church was called “Examination of Conscience.” When is the last time such an exercise were recommended to you. It has gone out of style.
One of the barriers to self-knowledge in the modern world is the minimum amount of time most of us spend alone without ourselves. When we have a spare moment we turn on the tv, or check Facebook or pick up a magazine.
Perhaps the reluctance to look at ourselves is based on the knowledge that such an examination may be a bit disturbing. But we might surprise ourselves. Most of us have some good qualities, maybe more than we realize.
A starting point is to consider how others see us. We can’t really trust most others to be honest about how they see us. We have to do it ourselves and try to be objective. But ultimately, we have to consider how God sees us. That’s the only view that really matters. Brother Lawrence put it this way: “We must, from time to time, honestly consider and thoroughly examine ourselves. We will, then, realize that we are worthy of great contempt.
One of the results of this self-examination is the beginning of understanding of much of the misery we suffer. Most of our problems start with us. Though or natural tendency is to see our misery as caused by others; the truth is most of it comes from within. Our attitude, disposition, mental outlook, even our health is determined by us. The good news is that we are the only thing we can truly change.
Why not spend some time, alone and quiet and ask ourselves: Who am I? Really? Self-awareness is the first step toward change. We need to know where we are before we can determine where we need to be.
Grab a mirror and spend some time alone and begin to know yourself.
Nick
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