Learning from a pair of talkative bears

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well” (Psalm 139:14).

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Our About 2HC page mentions that the overall 2HC journey emphasizes several critical second-half-of-life themes, first on the list being “becoming our ‘truest’ selves.” We clarify our meaning slightly by adding that “becoming one’s truest self” involves “identifying and finding freedom from our adapted or shadow selves and living into our truest identities in God.”

Okay, this all sounds well and good, maybe even desirable. But terms like adapted self, the shadow, and true self can still come across as rather enigmatic or esoteric. What are these concepts really seeking to convey?

Perhaps an intriguing allegory from an unexpected source can play its role in drawing us into the deeper meaning of these terms. We invite you to enter imaginatively into the experience of two talkative bears, whose story is told by the fourteenth century Persian poet Hafiz.[1] May this poem’s imagery shed a soft-glowing, tender light on what might otherwise come across as somewhat sterile nomenclature, that of “adapted self” and “true,” helping us grasp their meaning at not only the head level, but also the heart.

 

Two Bears

Once

After a hard day’s forage

Two bears sat together in silence

On a beautiful vista

Watching the sun go down

And feeling deeply grateful

For life.

 

Though, after a while

A thought-provoking conversation began

Which turned to the topic of

Fame.

 

The one bear said,

“Did you hear about Rustam?

He has become famous

And travels from city to city

In a golden cage;

 

He performs to hundreds of people

Who laugh and applaud

His carnival

Stunts.”

 

The other bear thought for

A few seconds

Then started

Weeping.

Have you ever felt like Rustam, performing “carnival stunts” to win the applause of various audiences?

Have you ever felt like the two bears, experiencing gratitude for life, having invested your energies into precisely what God made you to do and to be?

Photo by Anthony Renovato on Unsplash

[1] Hafiz, The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master, trans. Daniel Ladinsky (London: Penguin Arkana, 1999), 123, Kindle.

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Where are the elders?