Yourself, as a Book About God

October 2, 2023

You cannot always judge a book by its cover. Our false self covers our authentic self. The false self is the ego, which got the job of protecting us at the end of our soul child era when we were told we were not OK, not good and had to be someone other than our essence.

Parents do not mean to devastate their children, but even the most sensitive parents have to shape the unfiltered, naked, wild and truth-telling child. So, they teach the child they cannot be their total uncensored self. They do this out of love; they do not want their child to be a misfit or suffer the pain of rejection - nevertheless, the world eventually wounds children.

Being told we were not OK the way we were was an atomic blast to our young identities. The wound gave us shame, anger, envy and self-doubt. So, to battle these feelings, the ego constructed strategies to prevent shame, anger, envy, fear and self-doubt. One of the strategies is to hide our real feelings and to be seen as good and acceptable.

Our Ego Type is a false mask; we portray ourselves basically as one of the following false selves: I am good because I am right, giving, competent, sought after, knowledgeable, loyal, happy, powerful or OK. Then, this mask grew to our skin and became who we were.

The mask smothers many of us by midlife or even sooner. Then, slowly, we peel it away from our skin. Then, our true self can breathe, be seen, heard and affirmed.

Inquiry: If you were a book, could people tell who you are?

Dear God,

Peeling back is so very hard. I pray for the will and the strength to do the work. Amen.

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