Cuándo no me perdono a mi mismo, ¿en quién buscar el amor que ni yo me doy?
“…Para los niños la caída de ordinario no tiene importancia: ¡tropiezan con tanta frecuencia!. Y si se les escapan unos lagrimones, su padre les explica: los hombres no lloran. Así se concluye el incidente, con el empeño del chico por contentar a su padre.
Mirad en cambio lo que ocurre si pierde el equilibrio un hombre adulto, y viene a dar de bruces contra el suelo. Si no fuera por la compasión, provocaría hilaridad, risa. Pero además, el golpe quizás traiga consecuencias graves, y, en un anciano, incluso produzca una fractura irreparable. En la vida interior, nos conviene a todos ser ..como esos pequeñines, que parecen de goma, que disfrutan hasta con sus trastazos porque en seguida se ponen de pie y continúan sus correteos; y porque tampoco les falta … el consuelo de sus padres.
Si procuramos portarnos como ellos, los trompicones y fracasos –por lo demás inevitables- en la vida interior no desembocaran nunca en amargura. Reaccionaremos con dolor pero sin desánimo, y con una sonrisa que brota , como agua limpia, de la alegría de nuestra condición de hijos de Dios, de éste Amor, de esa grandeza, de esa sabiduría infinita, de esa misericordia que es nuestro Padre Dios.
“El trato con Dios. Amigos de Dios nº 146. San Josemaría Escrivá
When I forgive myself, ¿where do I turn to find love, and to who do I give myself?
…In the case of children, most falls are unimportant; they are always falling over! If they do start crying, their father tells them: 'Look here now, men don't cry.' And the incident ends with the child trying earnestly to please his father.
But what happens if an adult loses his balance and falls awkwardly to the ground? If it weren't so pitiful, his misfortune would provoke merriment and laughter. Besides, the fall may have serious consequences and, if it's an old man, it might even give rise to a fracture that will never heal. In our interior life, it does all of us good to be… like those tiny tots who seem to be made of rubber and who even enjoy falling over because they get up again right away and are once more running around, and also because they know their parents will always be there to console them, whenever they are needed.
If we try to act like them, our stumbling and failures in the interior life (which, moreover, are inevitable) will never result in bitterness. Our reaction will be one of sorrow but not discouragement, and we'll smile with a smile that gushes up like fresh water out of the joyous awareness that we are children of that Love, that grandeur, that infinite wisdom, that mercy, that is our Father.
But what happens if an adult loses his balance and falls awkwardly to the ground? If it weren't so pitiful, his misfortune would provoke merriment and laughter. Besides, the fall may have serious consequences and, if it's an old man, it might even give rise to a fracture that will never heal. In our interior life, it does all of us good to be… like those tiny tots who seem to be made of rubber and who even enjoy falling over because they get up again right away and are once more running around, and also because they know their parents will always be there to console them, whenever they are needed.
If we try to act like them, our stumbling and failures in the interior life (which, moreover, are inevitable) will never result in bitterness. Our reaction will be one of sorrow but not discouragement, and we'll smile with a smile that gushes up like fresh water out of the joyous awareness that we are children of that Love, that grandeur, that infinite wisdom, that mercy, that is our Father.
“Getting to know God” Friends of God, chap 9,nº146. San JoseMaría Escrivá
