Perfectionism isn’t the goal of a proud, puffed-up soul, but of a deeply insecure one. Perfectionism isn’t a symptom of pride but of shame and insecurity.

You know it when you meet it. You might say, “There you are! I’ve missed you.” This journey isn’t narcissistic or purely therapeutic or simply for you. As Oliver says, the new voice keeps you company as you do what you must: save the only life that you can save. This new voice, which is your own, is the only voice capable of loving others. It is yo

James Finley, writes, “We pray not to recharge our batteries for the business of getting back to the concerns of daily life, but rather to be transformed by God so that the myths and fictions of our life might fall like broken shackles from our wrists.”

Are we busier than we used to be? Do we have less time than we used to have? Perhaps not, say the experts. But we experience our lives as more fragmented, more scattered, and more divided than ever before. And, pulled in a thousand different directions, we wonder if there is, in fact, a way to freedom.

Certain parts of us become Protectors, playing a kind of managerial and self-protective role in our inner system.

The journey from division to wholeness is one in which we relax our tightly controlled grip on our little-d desires, realizing that they are not our true satisfaction but echoes and foretastes of our ultimate Desire.

Be still, and know that I am God. Practicing the presence of God is, indeed, a practice, but it is a graced practice. If you long for it, your intentions will meet the astounding grace of a God who is presently drawing you into communion. You will notice your obstacles. But you’ll also notice hints of the transcendent.

Protectors play an important role in our inner world. They’re like guards posted to protect vulnerable little children. And the vulnerable little children are Exiles. Exiles are the most vulnerable parts of us. Sometimes we’re triggered by a person or a situation which brings an Exile to the surface, eliciting pain or tears. But most of the time ou

To the extent that we ignore our vast inner sea with all its diversity and complexity, we inflict our dividedness on others. As Franciscan priest and author Richard Rohr writes, “Whole people see and create wholeness wherever they go; split people see and create splits in everything and everybody.”