The Importance of Self-Knowledge on the Christian Journey
In the Exsultet, the most glorious Easter proclamation, we read:That sanctifying power of this nightDispels the brokenness, washes faults away,Restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to the mourners,Drives out hatred, fosters concord and brings down the mighty.
The Christian Life aims to make that beautiful vision of the Exsultet an overwhelming certainty in the life of each follower of Christ. One factor in this necessary personal transformation is self-knowledge.
The brokenness acknowledged in the Exsultet is our heritage, the consequence of the sin of our original parents, Adam and Eve. Every human being is caught in this Alienation that drives them away from God. This is the product of personal, social, economic and cultural factors. We are all caught in the grasp of a false consciousness that leads us to see things for our personal benefit. From these most fundamental desires flow the division, the isolation, the conflict and hatred so inherent in our common human experience. Likewise, culture creates further false values to support hostility and separation. The economic system adds to the pattern of lies that defines us as consumers with needs that supposedly only further acquisition can bring the happiness we long for.
The following five observations help clarify the intensity of this false consciousness that engulfs us.
1) We are locked into a false consciousness.
2) This false consciousness creates a world view that is a gross distortion of reality but a world view, nevertheless, that we embrace as true.
3) Part of this perspective. fostered by society and culture, and driven by our innate egoism, defines us primarily as a consumer.
4) We are constrained by the deep and hidden prejudices aimed at protecting our economic, political, cultural, gender, social and racial privileges to the exclusion and deprivation of others.
5) The power of the ego is in a relentless struggle to avoid any diminishment of its control of our false consciousness.
The interplay of all these forces, generating a false consciousness, deeply influences our quest for happiness. It is a never-failing way to ultimate disappointment and grief. These are patterns of deceit and distortion. They create a mindset that pursues goals that, in the end, can never achieve lasting happiness. Authentic self-knowledge is the only way out. Jesus has told us, “The truth will set you free.” (John8:32) The first step on the road to freedom is moving out of the captivity of the destructive lies. We need to move into the truth of God’s call to our original innocence. This is the work of the Christian life. Self-knowledge is a critical feature of the venture.
Here is a short personal example of false consciousness. As a child, I was told the “colored people” would never come past 47th St. Gay and lesbian people just did not exist. The glass ceiling for women, which was never mentioned, was more like a combination steel and titanium. All of these were wrapped up in a religious message of my beloved parish.
My spiritual journey has been an on-going struggle to break free of this racism, prejudice against the LGBTQ community and sexism. All of these destructive lies have festered deep within my false consciousness over a lifetime. Like a cancer, they have quietly been eating away at my spiritual well-being. The search for true self-knowledge has led to a fierce battle against my ingrained captivity. Eventually, a growth in self-knowledge, has been generated by seeking a true Christian life. This has been possible only with an encounter with Jesus in the Gospels and deep personal prayer. The struggle continues.
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