In the movie “Ben-Hur,” there is a wild chariot race in which Ben-Hur is victor and Messala, his once-friend turned enemy, is killed. Afterward, he stands before the emperor and receives the winner’s crown. In the next scene, he is alone in a silent, vacant stadium, no more cheering, nothing but dead silence.
My mother, who watched the movie with me, exclaimed, “How empty!” One meaning of “empty” is having no worth or purpose, being useless, to be without meaning or force.
Is it not true we sometimes experience more of these feelings than fulfillment in our life? And when someone does something spectacular, does it not make us feel how little we have accomplished? How then can we combat these sentiments when they grip us?
In the book “The Virtues,” Romano Guardini, a German priest and one of Pope Francis’ favorite thinkers, answers our question. He states, “One of the most profound paradoxes of life is the fact that a man becomes more fully himself the less he thinks of himself.”
He distinguishes between the “false self” and “true self” that exist in every human being, with the false self emphasizing “I” and “me” as it pursues honor, prosperity, achievement and domination.
All of this obscures the true self, which does not regard itself but which flourishes in interior freedom, sincerity and integrity. Only as the false self disappears is the true self freed.
Guardini concludes: “The way in which a man puts away the false self and grows into the real self is that which the masters of the interior life call ‘detachment.'”
One reason for feeling empty is a lack of heartfelt generosity toward others. We are too self-centered. Fulfilled life thrives on charity, even though its practice may cost us our cherished comforts.
Detachment is imperative to becoming our essential self. Its reward is joy that emanates from responding to God’s loving generosity planted in us.
Copyright © 2021 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
