Many of us were raised in an environment that preconditioned us to believe that the pursuit and achievement of excellence was contingent upon our level of performance. Whether tacitly or explicitly, we learned to set a standard and expectation of personal compliance to it that determined not only our perceived level of success, but our sense of self worth.
Mountains of errors and many stabbing words of criticism later (both inner and external) despite perhaps monumental achievements, the sense of inferiority looms larger than any felt reward along the path of maturity.
And while coping mechanisms abound in such scenarios, the masks used to cover the sense of shame can be hidden in complicated layers of denial and self deception, retarding the very growth that is so coveted.
Growth occurs when we are bolstered by a sense of understanding and compassion for humanity: but it must ultimately include the self. This multiplied vision can enter the darkest places and bring the light of awareness that leads to the wholeness that can only exist in the place of humility and thanks.
For what gifts do we possess that have not been given? C.S. Lewis once noted, one may as well take personal credit for the color of their eyes as well as for one’s greatest accomplishments. The honing and development of the skill set which produces a masterpiece is entirely contingent upon being given the power and the will to pursue it in the first place. And that is something not of our own doing.
We have all been entrusted with many different gifting and callings that accompany. May we pattern their mastery after the way of our Creator, who lavishes us with all the resources needed for even the most challenging of undertakings, even when and perhaps best when their reception comes though the intimacy of struggle. When we place our attention not on our own efforts or results, but rather, on the beauty and majesty of their Giver, we can be at peace with ourselves.
We, unlike the One whose magnificent image we’ve been created in, are not creators but instead creations who create. He alone is the Creator of all. All honor is due a Being of such ineffable grandeur, who willingly supplies us with the grace to be all we have been designed to be, and to humbly follow the plan we never dreamed of to begin with.