No matter who you are, there is something you beat yourself up about. Some kind of existential angst. Something you "know" or believe about yourself, even though you would never admit it to anyone. Something that tells you you're not perfect. That there's a flaw in there somewhere.
Amazing Grace the universal song because it speaks to that self-flagellation. It's all in this line: “Amazing Grace, so sweet the song that saved a wretch like me…”
Wretch: A deplorably unfortunate or unhappy person; a person of despicable or base character.
Sadly enough, that word speaks to every man. Every woman. It's because no matter in what high esteem our peers, family and colleagues hold us; no matter how strongly our ego tells us we are “okay;” no matter what the world has to say about our virtues—we know better. There seems to be a wretch inside each of us. it may be big; it may be small. But it's there. Wouldn't you agree there are things you'd never want to admit?
Yet…there's another way to see this. Chapter 13.III speaks of littleness and magnitude. It directs our attention to the difference between ego thinking and thinking from our Right Mind, with God. See if you agree.
1 Be not content with littleness. But be sure you understand what littleness is, and why you could never be content with it. Littleness is the offering you give yourself. You offer this in place of magnitude, and you accept it. Everything in this world is little because it is a world made out of littleness, in the strange belief that littleness can content you. When you strive for anything in this world in the belief that it will bring you peace, you are belittling yourself and blinding yourself to glory. Littleness and glory are the choices open to your striving and your vigilance. You will always choose one at the expense of the other.
2 Yet what you do not realize, each time you choose, is that your choice is your evaluation of yourself. Choose littleness and you will not have peace, for you will have judged yourself unworthy of it. And whatever you offer as a substitute is much too poor a gift to satisfy you. It is essential that you accept the fact, and accept it gladly, that there is no form of littleness that can ever content you. You are free to try as many as you wish, but all you will be doing is to delay your homecoming. For you will be content only in magnitude, which is your home.
3 There is a deep responsibility you owe yourself, and one you must learn to remember all the time. The lesson may seem hard at first, but you will learn to love it when you realize that it is true and is but a tribute to your power. You who have sought and found littleness, remember this: Every decision you make stems from what you think you are, and represents the value that you put upon yourself. Believe the little can content you, and by limiting yourself you will not be satisfied. For your function is not little, and it is only by finding your function and fulfilling it that you can escape from littleness.
4 There is no doubt about what your function is, for the Holy Spirit knows what it is. There is no doubt about its magnitude, for it reaches you through Him from Magnitude. You do not have to strive for it, because you have it. All your striving must be directed against littleness, for it does require vigilance to protect your magnitude in this world. To hold your magnitude in perfect awareness in a world of littleness is a task the little cannot undertake. Yet it is asked of you, in tribute to your magnitude and not your littleness. Nor is it asked of you alone. The power of God will support every effort you make on behalf of His dear Son. Search for the little, and you deny yourself His power. God is not willing that His Son be content with less than everything. For He is not content without His Son, and His Son cannot be content with less than His Father has given him.
Amazing Grace the universal song because it speaks to that self-flagellation. It's all in this line: “Amazing Grace, so sweet the song that saved a wretch like me…”
Wretch: A deplorably unfortunate or unhappy person; a person of despicable or base character.
Sadly enough, that word speaks to every man. Every woman. It's because no matter in what high esteem our peers, family and colleagues hold us; no matter how strongly our ego tells us we are “okay;” no matter what the world has to say about our virtues—we know better. There seems to be a wretch inside each of us. it may be big; it may be small. But it's there. Wouldn't you agree there are things you'd never want to admit?
Yet…there's another way to see this. Chapter 13.III speaks of littleness and magnitude. It directs our attention to the difference between ego thinking and thinking from our Right Mind, with God. See if you agree.
1 Be not content with littleness. But be sure you understand what littleness is, and why you could never be content with it. Littleness is the offering you give yourself. You offer this in place of magnitude, and you accept it. Everything in this world is little because it is a world made out of littleness, in the strange belief that littleness can content you. When you strive for anything in this world in the belief that it will bring you peace, you are belittling yourself and blinding yourself to glory. Littleness and glory are the choices open to your striving and your vigilance. You will always choose one at the expense of the other.
2 Yet what you do not realize, each time you choose, is that your choice is your evaluation of yourself. Choose littleness and you will not have peace, for you will have judged yourself unworthy of it. And whatever you offer as a substitute is much too poor a gift to satisfy you. It is essential that you accept the fact, and accept it gladly, that there is no form of littleness that can ever content you. You are free to try as many as you wish, but all you will be doing is to delay your homecoming. For you will be content only in magnitude, which is your home.
3 There is a deep responsibility you owe yourself, and one you must learn to remember all the time. The lesson may seem hard at first, but you will learn to love it when you realize that it is true and is but a tribute to your power. You who have sought and found littleness, remember this: Every decision you make stems from what you think you are, and represents the value that you put upon yourself. Believe the little can content you, and by limiting yourself you will not be satisfied. For your function is not little, and it is only by finding your function and fulfilling it that you can escape from littleness.
4 There is no doubt about what your function is, for the Holy Spirit knows what it is. There is no doubt about its magnitude, for it reaches you through Him from Magnitude. You do not have to strive for it, because you have it. All your striving must be directed against littleness, for it does require vigilance to protect your magnitude in this world. To hold your magnitude in perfect awareness in a world of littleness is a task the little cannot undertake. Yet it is asked of you, in tribute to your magnitude and not your littleness. Nor is it asked of you alone. The power of God will support every effort you make on behalf of His dear Son. Search for the little, and you deny yourself His power. God is not willing that His Son be content with less than everything. For He is not content without His Son, and His Son cannot be content with less than His Father has given him.