God has been good to me. Of coure I've had to work hard for what I've got. I couldn't have done what I've done without him, but, I put a lot of effort into my job and it's paid off. I really do deserve what I've got. Yes, God has been good to me, but I think I've been good too. A
Or is this contented worldliness?
It is Sunday morning. I have three hours before Mass begins. I'm going to fry up a couple of eggs and some toast. It is a nice summer day so I think I'll eat it out on the patio. It sure will be great enjoying the summer weather, feeling the gentle breeze. What a great feeling it will be.
Or is this contented worldliness?
Here's Willie's son in trouble again. Why does he have to be so belligerent, so angry? And Willie's daughter, why does she lack direction in her life? Doesn't she have any motivation at all to improve herself? You know, if Willie would have worked out things with his wife, if he and his wife had paid more attention to their children and less concerned with themselves maybe they wouldn't have turned out as badly as they did. My wife and I, you know, we're not perfect, but our kids turned out pretty darn good.
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To see the world (and ourselves) as gift helps us see our own accomplishments as part of the gift, and so traced to God. If we forget that the world is gift, it becomes our "container," our only home, and we are "contented" with it, but also "restrained" by it and to that extent unfree.
Ch. 14: "The Enemy wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favor that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor's talents -- or in the sunrise, and elephant, or a waterfall. He wants each man, in the long run, to be able to recognise all creatures (even himself) as glorious and excellent things. He wants to kill their animal self-love as soon as possible; but it is His long-term policy, I fear, to restore to them a new kind of self-love - a charity and GRATITUDE for all selves, including his own; when they have really learned to love their neighbors as themselves, they will be allowed to love themselves as their neighbors."
So, to the degree we are "self" satisfied we are "worldly contented." To the extent we see ourselves, the world, and others as gifts to say thank you for, to appreciate, and to love, we're not.
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