Today's Scripture (Wis 23-3:9) begins with the statement: "God formed [me] to be imperishable; the image of [God's] own nature [God] made [me]." God's nature is goodness, love, reconciliation, forgiveness, honesty, integrity and much, much more. Evil, hatred, disunity, revenge, deceit do not exist in God. Having been made in God's image means that if I am being truly myself I then act out of goodness, truth and integrity (my inside self and outside self match or are in harmony--who I am inside is who I am outside and is what others experience of me). When I am living from my God-centered self, my behaviors reflect my truth, I am not living a pretentious life, I am not living a life of duplicity. As Jesus said of Nathaniel: there is no guile in him. To live more and more of the truth of my life, I need to be seeking the truth that exists in the depth of my being and in others. No one person has the whole truth, nor do I. Each person possesses a part of the truth. My truth and their truth contributes to a greater portion of the truth. That is why openness, listening, dialogue and obedience are essential elements of spiritual growth. I need to be listening to my interior self as well as entering into dialogue with others concerning issues shared between us to arrive at more and more of the truth and hence greater personal and interpersonal freedom.
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