The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether. Your real, new self (which is Christ’s and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange? The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters. Even in social

Living for others [is] such a relief from the impossible task of trying to satisfy oneself.

When we place the self at the centre of our universe, we eventually turn everyone and everything into a means to our ends. That diminishes them, which diminishes us. Humility means living by the light of that which is greater than me. When God is at the centre of our lives, we open ourselves up to the glory of creation and the beauty of other peopl

The great paradox is that we “find” our selves, this unconquerable identity and confidence, only through humbling ourselves, giving up the right to self-determination, and following Christ. “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). That is, when we stop trying to find and serve o

In essence, there is only one thing God asks of us—that we be men and women of prayer, people who live close to God, people for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough. That is the root of peace. We have that peace when the gracious God is all we seek. When we start seeking something besides Him, we lose it. As Merton said in the last pub

Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two pence how often it has been told before), you will, n