“There is an irreducible opposition between the deep transcendent self that awakens only in contemplation, and the superficial, external self which we commonly identify with the first person singular.

We must remember that this superficial “I” is not our real self. It is our “individuality” and our “empirical self” but it is not truly the hidden and mysterious person in whom we subsist before the eyes of God.

The “I” that works in the world, thinks about itself, observes its own reactions and talks about itself is not the true “I” that has been united to God in Christ.”

Thomas Merton — New Seeds of Contemplation

The other day as I was pondering some things, I considered my innermost self; that self which is hidden from the world, but is only seen by God Himself.

You see, we are continually bombarded by our own thoughts and feelings throughout the day. We live in the world of things, of words, and thoughts.

But these things actually are the exterior; they are on the outside of who we are. Now before you conclude that I’m on some esoteric or mystical journey right now, forget that idea.

If we’re truly honest with ourselves we would say that we present our own individual masks to the world and perhaps even to those who are closest to us.

Even in our deepest thoughts and perhaps even our prayers, we are thinking of things and ideas. But if we would dig deeper, there is a self that is “us” that is unmasked, hidden, and yet we can identify it as Spirit.

We are a Spirit and as such then, that person, is what communicates with God.

Psychologists have brought up the idea of the three components that make up ourselves: The ego, id, and super ego, all of which make up the framework of ourselves.

We have also the notion that we are spirit, we have a soul (mind), and a body.

Perhaps some have confused the soul with the spirit, and yet there is a difference, and maybe it’s just a matter of semantics.

According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the id is the primitive and instinctual part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives and hidden memories, the super-ego operates as a moral conscience, and the ego is the realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego.

And yet again, it is an unmasking of those layers that make us up. It is a peeling away, even like one would peel back the layers of an onion to get to its core. It is a matter of taking off the pretenses and masks that we show to the world and to those around us.

Again I’m going to use an illustration, a painting, which I’ve given reference to again. It’s a painting by the former great artist Lester Raymer, who lived and died in my small hometown of Lindsborg, Kansas. It shows two individuals, harlequins, who are each holding up a mask, and the title says: “If This Be Not I.”

So, while we’re alone or even in a crowd of people, consider who you are; who you really are. Maybe then perhaps we could begin to be honest with ourselves and each other.

We can then see the innermost self which is “us.” Then perhaps that “self” can then know who he or she is, as the reflection of God Himself.

 

Selah,
~ Stephen Hanson

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Stephen Hanson of In His Truth Ministries came to The LORD is a special way in 1975 and has prophesied regularly since. In these end-time birthing pangs we are reminded that judgment must first begin with the household of God. Will we be prepared and ready?

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