Self-centredness

Others avoid that which is closed-off and icy

October 5th 2023

Human beings rarely know how to emerge from their self-centredness in order to do something for others. Of course, their education is often to blame. Parents tell their children, ‘Don’t be so stupid, don’t always make the first move, let others come looking for you!’ Yes, that is true, but people will only look for them if they are useful. If someone is a baker, for example, people will seek him out to get bread. To be sought after, you must always have something to give. If you do not give anything, if you are closed-off and icy, who will come to seek you out? Human beings like only that which is alive, warm and radiant; they avoid whatever is dull and lifeless. Look at a rose in bloom – it produces a delightful fragrance and everyone comes to smell it, even bees and butterflies draw near, because it has opened up. So, why remain closed, without fragrance?*

* Related reading:

While it is right and healthy to have faith and defend it, trying to impose it on others is a form of fanaticism. In order to avoid such a situation one must never separate faith from love. If it is very difficult to know what love is, we can see its manifestations such as tolerance, gentleness,...