Today, 8 December, the Catholic world celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is a very dear feast for the Christian world, which has always had a special affection for the Mother of the Redeemer. And I think that this feast allows us to reflect on a reality that we fail to look at; and yet it is essential when it comes to running a company, a community, or a family. I am referring to interiority, or as it is technically called, to one’s intimacy. That personal sphere, where no one can penetrate, no one can probe, and which at the same time is responsible for many of our decisions and our way of seeing our relationships with others.
What are we like inside, what are our deepest thoughts and desires? Meister Eckhart rightly remarked, in the 13th century, that we are too preoccupied with doing when we should be more concerned with being. We devote many hours to study to master more of nature or the processes of an organisation; we work hard on physical improvement and our vital capacity; we learn languages; we cultivate dance, public speaking, and stage proficiency. But, we spend little or no time recognising where we are internally, what kind of feelings we spontaneously have, what desires we have, what quality our illusions have, why we have these fears, and why we admit these aversions.
As with all human dimensions, interiority is a plane that also admits improvements and progress, changes of rudder, and reconversions. There is a phrase from Sacred Scripture that I think is very useful in this reflection: What good is it for a man to gain the whole world if he loses his soul? What good is it if we have many personal skills, or many resources if our interiority is very weak or sick? If just one small thing goes against us, the whole edifice of success we have achieved suddenly collapses like a house of cards.
In a previous article, I mentioned that the person who holds a grudge against another is a person who is damaging all personal relationships. The grudge is something internal and selfish, and will therefore be present in all the relationships he establishes. As he has soured internally: he has become more sensitive to everything that has to do with himself; he is getting used to seeing possible enemies everywhere; he is more distrustful; his capacity to doubt himself has diminished; he is getting used to rationalising his obsessions; and a long etcetera, then this bitterness will always be a latent threat in the relationships he establishes; and sooner or later, it will end up emerging.
The interiority of each one of us is an essential dimension for social, family, business, national and international life. We are observing this in our country with hateful reactions to the release of an elderly and sick prisoner. It goes as far as not admitting that anyone can have mercy. Even to the extent that there is no one on earth who can do good. May we never have such a person as a neighbour. The exposure is very high.
That is why it is good to stop for a moment to recognise ourselves internally. And along with this recognition, we should never be discouraged by what we may encounter. In the case of interiority, fortunately, there is always a remedy; it is always possible to heal.
Even at the last minute of life, the opportunity will present itself. Of this we can be sure. Many people, who have gone through a critical trance and then recovered, comment that at that moment they have seen their whole life pass like a film. Something like the last resort that Divine Providence has foreseen to heal that interiority.
All in all, I think it is much more valuable and fruitful to seek the medicine and start the recovery right now, without having to wait for the last moment of temporal life. Not only will we do a great deal of good to many with healthier relationships; the first to benefit will be ourselves: we will have more inner peace, more simplicity and more joy….
