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I.M. Self Absorbed 16 Dec 2021

How would a daffodil relate to narcissistic? For a Dutch language speaker, that is easy. The beautiful flower (picture) is named 'Narcis' in that language.
Let me jump to a little story from the Greek mythology. The son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope was named Narcissus. He stood out in beauty. He rejected the love of the nymph Echo. Which displeased the gods a lot.

Myths

Please note my little expertise in Greek mythology. Imagine someone who could not accept the beauty of his own 'echo' or mirror image ...
No-one can be as beautiful as I am myself. Anything which looks like myself, I will reject. No wonder that the gods were angry.

My Narcissism

Some 20 years ago, I evangelized in the city center of my hometown. That means that we, in teams of two, tried to talk to strangers. Most of them did not like to talk to us. Many were in hurry. We asked the people who stopped if they had needs or if they knew any sick or needy person, that we could pray for. Many answered: "No, everything is fine and everybody around me is doing well. I do not know anybody with needs."
What ever wrong I saw in the persons we met, by God's grace, I observed: I am doing the same things as they do.
I am often in a senseless hurry. I ignore the needs around me just as well. It was as if all those people we met, were an echo of my own behavior.

Prayer

Holy Spirit, show me what I am absorbed in.