Ego and Soul

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Mark 9:30-37

September 22, 2024

One of the great joys of being a Dad is catching your kids doing something when they really think they were getting away with it. I could tell you a story regarding each of our kids when, at one point, I turned up when they least expected me and at a place, they least expected me to be. One of them exclaimed to the others, “He’s everywhere!” It usually was pure happenchance that I saw them when I did, but I never told them that.

Jesus has one of those moments in Mark’s Gospel today. The disciples were talking about who among them was the most important. Jesus calmly asks, “So, what have you been talking about?” The disciples looked at each other and thought, “Busted!”

Jesus did not get angry about this because, I think, he understood that it is normal for humans to play on the ego and be competitive about being better or more important than another. If you need a modern-day example of that, just let me say it’s election season. That should be enough said on that.

John Donohue, the Celtic poet, philosopher, and scholar has written that “One of the deepest longings of the human soul is to be seen.”  I have struggled with that notion my whole life. I always wanted to be given more credit and more acclamation. I wanted to be noticed. As I have aged, I’d like to think that I have overcome that constant urge. Not completely, but I’m much better.

What has helped me in this regard is, in part, taking Jesus’ words to be more child-like to heart. I watch my grandchildren and other little ones, and I see they don’t care who is in charge or more important. They just want to belong. Their ego has not taken over yet (it will eventually) and so they can live in the present moment and love unconditionally. That's what Jesus wants of me.

I work every day to allow my ego to diminish so that I can feel and hear God speak through my soul. God is there; I just need to quiet myself to hear. The world is not so bad of a place that I need to be in control. Some of you may scoff at that sentiment, but I believe it to be true. Despite war, violence, and animosity, there is a new energy swelling up that, in time, will cause all the negativity to be in the background. Things are changing, even if I can’t see it…yet. I have to let go of my ego and allow myself to feel the energy that is lifting us all.

And, if I want this positive energy to spread, then I must be a person of light and love to the world around me. Yes, I will be looked at as a kook, but being a fool for Christ is not all bad. If I can give one person a bit of hope in this destructive world, then we are all one person closer to realizing the love of God here on earth. I want my heart and soul to lift others so they too can feel the energy of God’s love.

In his beautiful book, Anam Cara, John O'Donohue, makes this point so clear:

“One of the greatest conflicts in life is the conflict between the ego and the soul. The ego is threatened, competitive, and stressed, whereas the soul is drawn more toward surprise, spontaneity, the new and the fresh. Real soul has humor, irony, and no obsessive self-seriousness. It avoids what is weary, worn, or repetitive.”

It’s a daily task, but one I relish, and want to share with as many people as I can.

Every Day.

© 2024 by Timothy J. Doppel

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