I have waged this war against myself

I have waged this war against myself for many years.

It was terrible, but now I am disarmed.

I am no longer frightened of anything because love banishes fear.

I am disarmed of the need to be right

And to justify myself by disqualifying others.

I am no longer on the defensive holding onto my riches.

I just want to welcome and to share.

I don’t hold onto my ideas and projects.

If someone shows me something better —

No, I shouldn’t say better, but good —

I accept them without any regrets

I no longer seek to compare.

What is good, true, and real is always

for me the best.

This is why I have no fear.

When we are disarmed and dispossessed of self,

if we open our hearts to the God who makes

all things new

then he takes away past hurts

And reveals a new time where everything is

possible.

—Athenagoras I of Constantinople