Reading Francis

What if the fundamental human failing is not greed or lust or pride, but the belief that we are not worthy of love, that we are not enough?

I was reading a book on discernment pulled from the writings of Henri Nouwen, and he makes this point. But so does Brené Brown. So does Father Greg Boyle, for that matter.

The pathologies of today (and every day) – not just the deadly sins but fear and hate, too – are all downstream. They flow from the false core belief that we aren’t enough, which is the fundamental hurt from which all us hurt people hurt people. If we want to change the world, it seems, we have to start by convincing people not to reject themselves. We are broken, sure, but still enough.

The addendum here is that this makes us vulnerable to people who make us feel wanted, as well as those who can convince us that some other people are even more worthy of rejection than we believe ourselves to be. Until we have something or someone to backstop our loveableness that transcends fickle human nature, that is.