"The great tragedy of the Fall lay not so much in that they disobeyed; God could handle that. The tragedy of Adam and Eve was that they hid. Far from thinking of themselves as like God, they thought of God as like themselves and thinking God could not bear their failure, they hid."
(Columba Stewart OSB)
I came across that quote in an article on "Radical Honesty and the Self: the practice of the Desert Fathers". It strikes as very applicable to many of us who are/have been involved in pastoral concerns. Trained to help, we have huge difficulty in being helped. Sometimes that presents itself as aloofness or clericalism. Its root lies in making our God too small and too human.
Our God is a God beyond our full comprehension. Infinite and inexhaustible, God's love cannot be "burnt out" or used up. And our frailty and failings can never exhaust his patience.
(Columba Stewart OSB)
I came across that quote in an article on "Radical Honesty and the Self: the practice of the Desert Fathers". It strikes as very applicable to many of us who are/have been involved in pastoral concerns. Trained to help, we have huge difficulty in being helped. Sometimes that presents itself as aloofness or clericalism. Its root lies in making our God too small and too human.
Our God is a God beyond our full comprehension. Infinite and inexhaustible, God's love cannot be "burnt out" or used up. And our frailty and failings can never exhaust his patience.
What he (or she) said....
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