How can this be?

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Paris_Blues

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St. Augustine once said: “God is closer to us that we are to ourselves.”

If that is true, how can that be? I mean, I’m so close to myself, I’m selfish! Is it because I may not take the time to be in silence to “hear” God so to speak?
 
Simple! God loves us more than we love ourselves. He knows what’s best for us more than we do. Think about your relationship with yourself. Now, our Infinite God is that much closer–He *knows * what’s in our hearts 🙂 Do you ever do something or react in a way that makes you wonder why you did that? God knows!

Well at least that’s what I think about it! By the way, I enjoy reading your posts, Paris Blues!
 
Paris Blues:
St. Augustine once said: “God is closer to us that we are to ourselves.”

If that is true, how can that be? I mean, I’m so close to myself, I’m selfish! Is it because I may not take the time to be in silence to “hear” God so to speak?
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Maybe you just think that you are close to yourself?

Maybe you are close to something other than yourself?

Maybe the real “yourself” includes all people, others as well as yourself?

Are any of us absolutely separate from any one other person? Aren’t we all connected in some way?

If so, then maybe to be really close to yourself, would mean to be really close to all people?

Maybe “yourself” includes you, your parents, your friends, your community, your nation, your world?

Maybe to simply limit your concerns to your own physical body, is to exclude all other parts of “yourself”?
 
The more I live, the more I discover that I am a mystery to myself. I am never entirely sure of my motivations, and I constantly surprise myself with my actions. I am sure that God knows exactly what my motivations are and is never surprised by my actions. In this way, He is closer to me than I am to myself.

To look at it another way, I constantly find myself chasing after things that are no good for me. Sometimes I know that I shouldn’t do something, and I find myself doing it anyway. If I had my way, I would often land myself in deep trouble. It can be as minor as that extra scoop of ice cream I know I’ll regret later or as serious as the sin I know I shouldn’t commit and end up falling into anyway. God never leads me into harm’s way; if He brings me through trials, it is only the medicine of the Divine Physician and not His attempt to lead me into harm. Because He seeks my good more wholeheartedly than I do, He is closer to me than I am to myself.
 
Grace and Glory:
The more I live, the more I discover that I am a mystery to myself.
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Yes. This is quite true for all of us. No one can possibly know himself as thoroughly as God knows him, on any level–physical, psychological, spiritual.

Do you know the configuration of every atom comprising your body; have you counted the hairs on your head? Do you know unfailingly all your motivations, desires, weaknesses, strengths? God does.

Ontologically speaking, God has to be intimately connected to each of us, because he created us from nothing, and continually holds us in being.

To paraphrase Frank Sheed, if you make something, then walk away from it, what keeps it in existence is the material that you made it of–wood, metal, clay. But God made us (and the universe) out of nothing. If he walks away, what continues to hold us in existence? Nothing.

Thomas Merton once said that at the center of being of each of us, whether great sinner or great saint, there is God, holding us in existence.

(And that of course, is entirely apart from a consideration of Grace–the indwelling of the very life of God.)
 
I have the same sort of thoughts JimG talks about – it’s the same with the idea that God knows the number of hairs on our heads.

They are THERE on our heads, so he MUST know how many they are – they exist only because of HIM.
 
Contrary to some opinions, Catholicism does teach of the indwelling spirit. I think this spirit gives us our guiding light and the degree to which our bushel doesn’t prevent that light from coming to the surface of our consciousness, we may actually NOT be in contact with our “inner divinity.”

Some have argued that we are not divine, but if that were the case then the Good News would really be Bad News for everybody but one human being. We are made in God’s image, and instilled with baptism of water, of confirmation, and consume the Eucharist. If we aren’t partly divine by then, then we’re missing the boat and again – God’s probably closer to “you” than you are yourself.

Alan.
 
Paris, if you want to enter deeply into philosophical thinking…

God’s knowledge is direct - it has no need for intermediate steps, as human knowledge does. When you and I think about and know something, we use words, mental pictures, concepts…there’s always something between us and what is known by us. Between God and what is known by Him, there is nothing - only direct knowledge.

It’s a difficult thing to wrap your mind around.

Betsy
 
AlanFromWichita:
Contrary to some opinions, Catholicism does teach of the indwelling spirit. I think this spirit gives us our guiding light and the degree to which our bushel doesn’t prevent that light from coming to the surface of our consciousness, we may actually NOT be in contact with our “inner divinity.”
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Some have argued that we are not divine, but if that were the case then the Good News would really be Bad News for everybody but one human being. We are made in God’s image, and instilled with baptism of water, of confirmation, and consume the Eucharist. If we aren’t partly divine by then, then we’re missing the boat and again – God’s probably closer to “you” than you are yourself.

Alan.
Hi Alan…well said!
In the Mass Father prays “make us worthy to share in Your Divinity who humbled Himself to share in our humanity”. The implication is clear and obvious.

The other matter which originated this thread on God being closer to us than we are to ourselves is known only by Faith i.e. by simply believing that God is indeed closer to me than I could ever be to myself…in other words God knows all the why’s and wherefores of my being some of which I have brought about others may be conditioned into me. But very often our feelings can not access this closeness, so close is He…but Faith can know it simply by believing it is so.
Contrary to some opinions, Catholicism does teach of the indwelling spirit. I think this spirit gives us our guiding light and the degree to which our bushel doesn’t prevent that light from coming to the surface of our consciousness, we may actually NOT be in contact with our “inner divinity.”
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It is quite sad that in the name of a ‘humility’ we are actually taught to hide our gifts etc. (the ‘bushel’ we adopt to hide our real selves in the name of a ‘humility’) I think probably that true Humility is aware of the gifts God has given one, that true Humility is aware of much, while it acknowledges the truth of the matter that all good, all gifts are a free gift of God and not earned or deserved in any way at all…rather quite to the contrary. True Humility I think also insights that there is a responsibility and accountability before God to be a good steward of His Gifts and Graces, Blessings, and not to hide them under a bushel in the name of a ‘humility’. True Humility I think would insight all this…and with some confusion and conflict … due to the way we were taught and have been conditioned to think and act in the name of a ‘sprituality’.

Barb, South Australia
 
I have personally experienced that I do not know myself very well. I am constantly learning newer and newer things about myself. My capabilities, talents or gifts, whatever it is…I’m learning. But God knows everything about me and he puts forth opportunities or situations that will help me learn those things that I do not know about myself.
I am constantly surprised with how much He knows including me as a person. He knew us, as Scripture says, even before we were born. Well, makes sense doesn’t it? If the Lord Almighty created us…like body and soul…and knows everything about us from our cells to our hearts, he would naturally be closer to us than we can ever imagine. He naturally loves us more than we can ever love ourselves as he made us in his image. It’s an awesome thought really. God bless.
-Alison
 
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