Article October 26, 1992 Issue

The freedom of not being "important"

The more selflessness we express, the more we feel the pure joy that comes from God alone.

Joy Dell

I Once read about a prominent person, engaged in very important work, who was overwhelmed by responsibility and fear of failure, until another person whom he highly respected said to him, "Oh, you aren't so important!" Instantly the inflated sense of self collapsed, and the man had no more trouble.

Sometimes even the best of people unknowingly take on a mistaken sense of importance—a view of themselves as personal egos working apart from God, burdened with responsibility. But this isn't really the true nature of man.

We learn from the first chapter of the Bible that man is made in the image and likeness of God. We might say, then, that man is the reflection of God. Realizing that the likeness, or reflection, of God, Spirit, can be no more imperfect nor material than is God, we find a new sense of man coming into view—an understanding of our true selfhood as wholly spiritual and totally fulfilled. This selfhood can't be burdened, inflated, or deflated.

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