We must act ruthlessly against this tendency we have to judge everything from the viewpoint of our little self. The first step on the way into the Kingdom is defined by Christ as 'deny thyself'. We could put it in harsher terms: when we see that once again, instead of seeing or hearing someone, we are wrapped up in ourselves, we must round on this obstrusive 'I' and cry out in anger: 'Get thee behind me, Satan (Satan in Hebrew means adversary), you think not of the things of God! Out of my way, I'm tired of seeing your face!' The publican knew he was evil in the eyes of God and in the judgment of men, he instinctively knew how to look away from himself, because there was little enjoyment to be gained from contemplating his ugliness. The pharisee could look complacently at himself because, at least in his own mind, righteousness and his person coincided exactly and he saw the law of God mirrored perfectly in his life. He could delight quite sincerely in this vision, marvel in the perfect achievement of the divine wisdom he thought he was. My pious reader, do not be too quick to laugh at him or to express your righteous indignation! Ask yourself whether you are so different from him: you the good churchman, you the law-abiding citizen, you the dutiful member of your conventional society!
-Met. Anthony Bloom +2003, taken from Meditations on a Theme
I can't add a damn thing - for once!
