If you are willing
to bear serenely
the trial of being
displeasing to yourself,
then you will be
for Jesus
a pleasant place of
shelter
St. Therese of Lisieux
We were given this quote today in our Religious Life course. We have read two articles on self-esteem and self-acceptance, and so this quote fits in with the topic.
When I first read the quote, three words came to mind: openness, peace, and grace. This quote could be taken apart and looked at from a Christian perspective in many ways. I chose to look at the line, “to bear serenely.” If we are to bear who we are serenely, it requires openness. If we are open, I think it allows us then to bear our individuality with peace. Finally, if we bear it with peace, then a grace will enter us that will come to a genuine, loving acceptance of ourselves. God desires this of us. He has created us uniquely, lovingly and our relationship with God must be an open one, in which we love ourselves.
James Martin, S.J. wrote a book called, “Becoming Who You Are.” In this book, he reflects on the true self from Thomas Merton and other saints. It is very clear from the beginning that he is making a very simple, yet complicated point: to be a saint is to be yourself. St. Therese at a very young age understood this and I believe this quote shows her understanding of loving oneself. For if we do this, Jesus will find “a pleasant place of shelter.”
Creating “a pleasant place of shelter” for Jesus allows us to love and to be loved. As a De La Salle Christian Brother, I think of this in the classroom. If we as Brothers, as teachers, are loving of ourselves, of our vocation, and of our God—we can share it with our students.
For me, what comes into play is a sense of vulnerability. As Lasallian educators, we believe in the power of the student-teacher relationship. The power of this relationship has to do a lot with the vulnerability we offer, obviously a “healthy vulnerability.” Our students believe in this relationship because they see the humanity in us. Part of the beauty, the freedom if you will, of the incarnation is Jesus’ humanity. This gives us the freedom to be vulnerable, yet live out De La Salle’s mission as he called us to save the souls of those entrusted to our care. We have an incarnate mission. Our Founder reminds us:
“Be satisfied with what you can do, since God is satisfied with it, but don not spare yourself in what you can do with grace; and believe that, provided you want it, you can do more with the grace of God than you think. Do not forget to thank God for all the blessings he bestows on you.”
