Matt Emerson on Coming to Know One's Self

     "I have walked through many lives,
     some of them my own,
     and I am not who I was,
     though some principle of being
     abides, from which I struggle not to stray."
        -Stanley Kunitz, from "The Layers"

"I first read those lines as a freshman in college during my first and only semester at the College of the Holy Cross. The name of the course was 'Critical Reading and Writing,' taught by the late John H. Wilson, a professor whose Socratic beard and commanding gaze made him seem not so much a man as a monument. When he stood before us, I became immediately conscious of how much I didn't know."

In a recent commentary, Matt Emerson (theology teacher, Xavier College Preparatory, Palm Desert, CA) reflected on coming to know one's self in light of the Christian vision.

To access Matt's complete post, please visit:

After Manresa: Some Principle of Being Abides (16 DEC 11)