"The various forces in my soul" 


Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? I am
a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of my head are easier by
far to count than my feelings, the movements of my heart.
-Saint Augustine

Most of us never really see the people we live with. Our
boyfriend may be right before our eyes, but we do not see
him. We see our idea of him, a little model we have made in
our mind, and on that we pronounce our judgments. 

That is why, when we quarrel with someone, the worst thing
we can do is to avoid him or her. We are trying to avoid an
image in our own mind, which cannot be done. The mind takes
some exaggerated impressions, memories, hopes, and
insecurities, draws a quick caricature like one of those
sidewalk cartoonists, and then turns up its nose. The person
in question should retort, "That's not me;
that's your caricature of me. If you don't like
it, you don't like your own mind." 

To heal our relationships, we have to move closer to people
we do not like, learn to work with them without friction.
When we do this, we are remaking the images in our mind
- which means we are literally remaking the world in
which we live. 


This hits me right in the face.
Help me, Lord.

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