The Animal Will Throw Us

Food for thought:

... We must know the truth about ourselves without equivocation; we must be brought to the point of absolute honesty before ourselves and before others. Again and again we will be tempted to stand on the pedestal of our own self-esteem, and this temptation must be overcome at all costs.

We may cavort for a time on our high horse of vanity and self-deception, but sooner or later the animal will throw us and make off leaving us stranded in the wilderness.

We must abandon the fictions we have labored to polish so as to increase their plausibility. An honest self-appraisal combined with a sober summing-up of one’s own capacities and potentialities is the first step toward truth in life. The truth shall set you free – and freedom, in every part of life, is all that matters.

-- Fr. Alfred Delp, S.J., from "Prison Writings" (Orbis).

(The paragraph breaks are mine.)

Father Delp was was executed on February 2, 1945, for being part of the German resistance to the Nazis. I greatly appreciate his words above -- despite being far from living up to them.

Photo hat-tip: Tim. His description: "On Pentecost Sunday, at the Pantheon in Rome, red rose petals fall from the roof to symbolize the descent of the Holy Spirit."