Deep intimacy with the Trinity requires deep conversion. This was the focus of my retreat this past weekend with Thomas Dubay, author of "Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer," as the retreatmaster. The retreat was based on the book.
Father Dubay pointed out that everyone has a consuming concern. ("I live for this.") He noted that Dostoevsky said that man cannot live without kneeling. You will worship something. He said that, in reality, there are no atheists, only idolaters.
What might even professed Christians actually be living for? Money, pride (I just have to dominate.), lust (opposite of love), etc.
The first six recorded words of Jesus are, "Be converted and accept the Gospel."
A baby is completely egocentric. Some people never get over it.
Dubay says, "Perhaps the most all-embracing trait of the original wound...is omnipresent egocentrism....Yes, my thoughts and desires and inclinations are spontaneously focused not on others but on myself: my conveniences, my pleasures, my preferences, my possessions, my prospects, my plans, my sufferings, my desires, my aspirations, my reputation, my freedom....
The fundamental conversion is therefore the renouncing of this pervasive egoism and the turning to an altruistic love for objective truth, goodness, and beauty.
Yeah. The list of "my's" is all too familiar among the things my thoughts are frequently directed towards. May my heart, mind, and soul always turn to objective truth, goodness, and beauty. (Even when I'm picking up towels from the bathroom floor? LOL)
4 comments:
Wow! What great thoughts. I've been in an online discussion of the Trinity and this is exactly what I need to read today.
Thank you.
"A baby is completely egocentric. Some people never get over it."
That is one classic quote that's going in my sidebar for sure!
Can I quote you?
Ukok, sure, use the quote but credit Thomas Dubay for it since I was writing from my notes on the retreat. He said something to that effect.
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