Blog Inception and Self-Reflection

So, I was about to write a blog post about my friends making fun of me for the time I spend on my blog, but then I thought about writing a blog post about that exact post I was going to write, but instead I am writing a note reflecting on that… I think this puts me down into the fourth level of Blog Inception… Time moves differently here…

    

But now to a real thought, just how self reflective can one be before one’s own mind falls out, or one ceases to see reality?  

In our formation as seminarians, we are often told that reflecting on yourself should be like looking in a mirror; you must look at yourself honestly, decisively, and quickly.

One must always be honest when looking at themselves in the mirror, because if I look in the mirror and see a huge piece of green in my teeth, or my hair is wonky from sleeping on it, it isn’t going to fix anything just to lie about it and pretend it isn’t there. In the same way, whether I choose to admit that I have flaws or not, they are still there, and ignoring the blatant signs of our fallen nature won’t make them go away, it just makes me a fool.

One must be decisive when looking in a mirror; a glance should always bring one to a decision about a certain action. We don’t just look at ourselves in the mirror for the fun of seeing ourselves, unless you want to drown in a lake like Narcissus, who sank into death staring at his own face purposely. If you were on a date, you boys might glance at a mirror in order to check your outfit, or you girls might go to a bathroom to check your make up, but you wouldn’t stare at the mirror the whole time instead of looking at your date. And in this life, our date is the Almighty God, who loves us more than we can imagine, and it won’t benefit us to look at ourselves without good reason.

                                     

All self reflection should also be quick, or brief. To belabor the example, if we stare at ourselves too long we will, like Narcissus, begin to only see ourselves, and not everything else around us; we will become so intent on seeing our own face, that we won’t notice our own drowning. The world around us is of the utmost importance, for it is the place in which we either do the good or do evil, we either engage life or disengage, we either walk towards Christ, or we drown. If self-reflection is done too often, or for too long, we will lose track of what’s really important, we will focus too much on our own flaws or on our own gifts.

                                   

The trick to avoiding most of these stumbling blocks is to never look into your soul alone, to never delve into your own self without a guide. The Holy Spirit is our primary guide, but He gives us others as well. This is why we have spiritual directors in the seminary, and why every Christian should have one; we cannot do this alone. Whether in big ways or small, we are blinded by sin and pride, and therefore cannot honestly, decisively, and quickly judge the state of our own souls. Seek help, seek a guide, look to the Holy Spirit and ask to be given a spiritual director who will truly understand your soul, and, most of all, seek Christ.

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