It’s a strange reality. The notion that Jesus, who is Good, endorsed denying ourselves.
At first hearing, that seems not all that good for our becoming – for our flourishing.
I think the way that message has been communicated over the years has actually lead to some less than helpful understandings of who God is,
and perhaps,
of our understanding of who we are,
to him.
But – to deny ourselves in light of the God Narrative,
is to simply shift our gaze off
of the shadow we cast, and to move beneath the sort of light where our shadow pales.
I think that is the only kind of denying of self that is really truly good for us.
It’s living in the true-light.
We stand beneath it and we are seen for who we are.
The very properties of light can be trusted –
to, without judgement, reveal, rather than conceal, whatever it falls upon.
And not only that, the very properties of sunlight, warm and bring life to whatever it falls upon.
The God-light is the only light through which shifting our gaze off of ourselves and off of our, perhaps, marred reflections,
actually mysteriously leads us closer towards,
rather than away from,
becoming who we
*are.*
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf…. The sheep don’t matter to him. I am the Good Shepherd.” John 10:11-14 MSG
