Because our hearts are darkened, pride (egotism) hardens the heart. We see ourselves and others with blurry vision, not clearly or soberly. We overestimate our own greatness and spiritual maturity while we undervalue others, judging them to be worse in comparison. Through pride, we can even deceive ourselves into thinking we are humble when we are far from it. Pride brings forth egotistical Self-love, which is opposed to true self-denying love aimed at benefiting the other. In our warped perspective, we confuse what is right and good with what is wrong and bad, yet we render ourselves deaf to correction. We refuse to listen to those who possess clearer vision, more perfect perception, greater knowledge, and wiser discernment.
Remember Narcissus from the old Greek myths. Peering into a perfectly clear pool, he found the most beautiful creature he had ever seen looking back at him from beneath the water. When he tried to kiss his beloved, touching his lips to the pool’s still surface, the one beneath disappeared, fleeing with the ripples at the disturbance of the water. This happened over and over, every time he tried. Narcissus stayed by the pool, gazing in, until he wasted away and died. He could not bear to leave such beauty. Unknowingly, Narcissus had fallen in love with his own reflection. His prideful delusion led to his destruction.
Similarly, we can be like Don Quixote, who, charging bravely on his horse, attacked a vicious giant, but the giant was really only a windmill. The windmill proved innocent, but because of his delusion, Don Quixote was a danger to the windmill and, more importantly, a danger to himself.
The more dark pride covers, seeps in, and hardens our hearts, the more we cut ourselves off from the nurturing streams of Divine Grace, the less clearly we see reality, and the farther we drift from the route that leads toward our potential and purpose.
Text copyright © 2017 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees