Realigned with the True Self

Friday, August 28, 2026

Father Richard teaches that true religion leads us to an experience of our true self and undermines our false self:

The true self is who you are because of the divine indwelling, the Holy Spirit within you (Romans 8:9). We are all temples of God, says Paul (1 Corinthians 3:16). What happened in Christ, the Anointed One, is an announcement of what is happening in all of us, too. We are children of heaven and earth, both at the same time. Much of the work of enlightenment is bringing those two identities together, just as Jesus did.

Putting the human and the divine together is what it means to be “the Christ” (Colossians 1:17–20), and what it means for us to be “the new Adam [and Eve]” (1 Corinthians 15:45–49). Ephesians could not make it much clearer: “You too have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit that was promised—this is the pledge of your inheritance” (1:13–14). Few Christians have ever been seriously taught about their inherent union with God and will find all kinds of self-hating reasons to deny it. Only the true self can dare to believe the gospel’s good news.

The false self is characterized by separateness. Jewish and Christian traditions call this state of disconnectedness “sin.” When we’re separated from our deepest being, we are in a state of sin or alienation. When we are disconnected from our true self in God, we look for various false and addictive ways to fill our emptiness. The small or false self is who we think we are, but our thinking does not make it so. It is our identity created through culture, education, class, race, friends, gender, clothes, and money. That’s all that Adam and Eve had once they left the garden where they walked with God. But let’s not feel too bad for them or even guilty ourselves. It seems that we have to leave the garden. We have to create a false self to get started; the trouble is that we take it far too seriously. It is always passing away—in stages and then all at once at death. Only the true self is eternal. We all suffer from a terrible case of mistaken identity.

The true self is characterized by communion and deep contentment. It’s okay, right here, right now. The true self is the realigned self; and religion’s main purpose is to lead us to experience this self, which is who we are in God and who God is in us. It has to do with participating in a Universal Being that is beyond our being. Ultimately, our lives are not about us. We are about life! That doesn’t mean we stay in the true self twenty-four hours a day. Life is three steps forward and two steps backward. Yet once we know the big picture, we will never be satisfied with the little picture.

Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, “True Self, False Self,” Radical Grace 25, no. 4, (2012): 39, 40, 41.

On This Current Moment – John Chaffee

September 23, 2025  Posted by johnqchaffee

I’m not sure why I am writing this.

I feel compelled to, but I’m not sure why. I am a mystery to myself. Is this my attempt to share some truth, or is this some means by which I am looking for validation? I contain multitudes… I am a walking contradiction at all times. In our current era of social media and internet use, I question whether anything I say here will be shared with anyone who doesn’t already agree with me.

All that said, I would like to share something with you. Consider these the thoughts of an incomplete individual who is still learning how to integrate and incarnate paleo-orthodoxy today.

Here is what I believe and hope to humbly share:

Any rhetoric that creates an Us vs Them thinking is inherently diabolical, anti-Christian, and utterly unbecoming of anyone who believes in Christianity’s claim of tearing down the wall of separation and creating one new humanity (Ephesians 2).

Any Us vs Them thinking is diabolical in the deepest and truest sense of the word. It originates from the Greek word Διαβολος, which breaks down etymologically as Δια- (Dia- meaning “two”) and Βολλω (Bollo- meaning “I throw”). Anything is therefore “diabolical” if it takes one thing and breaks it down into two and throws them apart.

The current political discourse is inherently diabolical. When I read the news, all I can see is the scapegoat mechanism happening, the throwing of all blame, shame, anger, and fury at some “other” individual or collective. To define who you are by who you are collectively casting out is the way of the “old humanity” and not the way of the “new humanity” of Ephesians 2, mentioned above.

The solution to the issues of our day is a deep and meaningful return to Christianity by the Christians. I say this knowing that conservative-leaning people would applaud this part. At the same time, a deep and meaningful return to Christianity by the Christians might throw some people off. Other, progressive-leaning people would applaud the same statement for different reasons.

Last night, I had a great conversation with three men younger than me, and at the end of the conversation, I encouraged them to re-read the entire New Testament with entirely fresh eyes. One of the problems of Christianity is that we defer to what our religious and political parties tell us about what it is all about. And, in a world where those lines are becoming more and more blurred, I want to echo the words of Shane Claiborne and say, “What if Jesus actually meant what He said?”

For Christians (and that is the only people group for whom I am remotely qualified to speak), the way forward is always a deeper return to the words of Jesus. And, I would add that the words of Jesus are more conservative than the progressives would ever admit, and also more progressive than conservatives would ever admit.

There is goodness, beauty, truth, and love that must be protected, but it is not protected by scapegoating, ostracising, eliminating, or killing our “enemies.” Christ was to be the last Crucified One. It is utterly unbecoming and a massive missing of the point to be Christians who then want to “crucify” others. That is not the way of Christ, that is the way of the Διαβολος.

• Previous Entry: True Self and False Self