Daily Meditation: Monday, August 17, 2009

It’s undeniable that many people feel love and affection …

08/17/2009

It’s undeniable that many people feel love and affection for each other, but at the same time they are so selfish they do not see how much they are making the other person suffer. And that’s why there are so many tragedies and separations in families. Take the example of a man whose job takes up all his time and energy, as so often happens nowadays, and who spends his time away from home travelling, or in meetings. When he gets home, tired, preoccupied, bad-tempered even, he throws himself into an armchair and buries his head in the newspaper to make it clear to his wife he doesn’t want her bothering him with problems concerning the house or the children, and so on. All the signs are there for him to see that his wife is growing tired of this situation and that his children are suffering as well. But no, he sees nothing: his wife is there, his children are there, his furniture is there, everything’s fine. Until the evening he returns home and is stunned to discover that his wife has left him, taking the children with her… or leaving them behind! And he doesn’t understand. It’s a terrible shock, he cannot get over it, he’s distraught, he goes to see a psychoanalyst… or else he consults clairvoyants to find out whether his wife will return! For years he could have seen what was likely to happen, it was right under his nose, but his selfishness prevented him from seeing it.