"I am nothing and I am everything"

I wanted to take another stab at trying to put into words the meaning that I got out of Richard Rohr's passage that I posted last week. At first I found the passage to be uncomfortable but when a situation arose in my life that was challenging I applied Richard's idea of accepting the weakness of self and the experience shifted me.

We are all familiar with the idea of the egoic, separate self and the idea of the True, Essential Self.  A person who embodies the True Self might experience themselves as "I am nothing and I am everything." When I read Richard's passage it helped me to get in touch with the "I am nothing" part of the True Self.

This hit me strongly because I am aware of how addicted I can be to myself, and, recognizing that this self is actually 'nothing' provides some balance.  It puts into perspective that my opinions, concerns, desires and life circumstances are not who I am.  This feels very freeing.  When I get pulled back into giving meaning to every little thing that happens in my life, I will remind myself that "I am nothing."

I remain confident that there is more to me than this separate, limited self.  And I will wait for God to reveal to me who I really am.