Today I stumbled across a quote which goes: “I did not come to teach you, I came to love you. Love will teach you”. It reminded me of once, many many years ago, when I had a moment of epiphany similar to the message behind that quote. It was when someone asked me the question:
“But why? Why would you love me Grace?”.
Good question that was 😅, considering that the person was not exactly a saint and was probably thinking he wasn’t deserving of compassion.
But then again, aren’t we all sinners? Isn’t it the ego which tries to convince us that some people are worthy of love and some others not? After all, the ego’s job is to protect and help us navigate and survive in this ruthless and materialistic world. You can’t run from your ego. On the contrary, you need to start teaming up with your ego if you want to survive AND thrive. Otherwise you might as well go live somewhere in the mountains, be a monk, spend the rest of your life in solitude and silent contemplation, beg for food and clothing. Then maybe…just maybe you wouldn’t have to deal with the world. Wouldn’t that be nice? 😅.
So stumbling across that quote inspired me to write a message about the ego.
And it’s simply this: There’s no greater TEACHER for the ego than LOVE.
The ego has a very important role to play in our lives. It understands the language of the world and is a mediator between the inner world and the outer world. Our goal is not to strive for an egoless self but to train and manage the ego to do it’s job properly. It’s only when the ego is untrained and out of control that we start experiencing unrest within and around us. When that happens, you find that instead of embracing vulnerability and loving more, people start acting cool and putting up facades which they think would protect their tender hearts. The result is a world filled with brokenness and lovelessness.
So next time you feel the ego spiraling out of control or someone wants to learn about love, always remember that quote:
“I did not come to teach you.
I came to love you.
Love will teach you.” - Justin Tristao
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