DIVINE POTENTIAL

Fr Jim Cogley

A tiny acorn is a bundle of potential. It has the capacity to become not just a mighty oak tree but a forest of oak trees. Each of us comes into the world as a tiny bundle of divine potential, born with the capacity to become and achieve infinitely more than anyone could ask or dream or imagine. We are born with the stamp of greatness on our souls and for some reason, instead of this being developed, this can get more and more eroded as we journey through life. In the words of TS Eliot we can end up ‘putting on a face to meet the faces that we meet, measuring up our lives in coffee spoons, wondering do we dare to eat a peach and shall we wear white trousers as we walk along the beach?’ Our world of potential wonder can become pathetically small and ego-centric to the extent that ‘its not our smallness that we begin to fear but our greatness.’ (Marianne Williamson) She also says that, ‘our smallness does not serve the world’.

Today we continue to look at some of the limiting factors in childhood that keep us from living a full life. Many live small lives of ‘quiet desperation’ because so much of their true identity has been closed down. Having been compared to another sibling or classmate we now have a room once marked as ‘Unique’ is now labelled as ‘Inferior’. We may not have received encouragement for a particular interest, sport or hobby, and so that room became marked as ‘Disinterest’. Negative remarks about our physical appearance could have a room now labelled ‘Not up to standard’. As we get older more and more rooms change label and our education system, that in the past has promoted one particular way of learning, can leave the room once marked as ‘Intelligent’ now bearing the label of ‘Not so bright’.

All the rooms we have mentioned represent our amazing potential. However, with one after another being closed down and relabeled, we not only lose sight of our potential, but we also become removed from our true selves. It’s so easy to become displaced from ourselves and so find we are vulnerable to addiction. This may not be to alcohol or drugs, but even to having to win or be successful. At 13 Peter was a wizard at playing soccer. Unfortunately, he had a very poor coach who measured his worth as a person in terms of whether his team won or lost. His temper was vented at whoever was closest when the team made any mistakes and often Peter got the full force of his anger. What became ingrained in Peter was that failure was never an option and success was to be achieved at all costs. Not only was he traumatized but from there on his identity became displaced and became identified with success.