Do you make a distinction between universal truth and particular truth? You meet people who have particular interests such as their hobbies, and they are quite knowledgeable about them but you may have no interest in those subjects. Yet there is also universal truth that applies to everyone, questions of eternity and being, identity and meaning and purpose. Some people studiously avoid pursuing these questions and claim no spirituality or beliefs but they cannot escape them because everyone is affected by them.

Are you holy? Is it easier to think of yourself this way if you consider yourself in an individualistic and isolated way? Yet that is not the way you live. For you live in a community and the more you identify with common humanity the more substance there will be to your righteousness. How are those who regard themselves as holy in their isolation seen by those who observe them? Aren’t they regarded as alienated and therefore less holy rather than more so? When you interact with people your fears, insecurities, and vulnerability will collide with theirs.

Are you bored? Do you find some things to be boring and others to be fascinating? Do you think that these are inherent properties in the things you observe, or does your response depend on you? There is a difference between saying, ‘this is boring’, and saying, ‘I’m bored’. The first is a judgment and the second is an admission that the problem may be you even if you don’t see it that way. What is your view of reality? Do you understand that every time you open your eyes you see something that I made and every person you meet is created in my image?

Do you ever act in such a way that doesn’t reflect your true feelings? If your boss wants to tell you about his vacation and it is something you have no interest in, do you tell him he is boring and walk away? In that case your true feelings would not align with your best interests. You know very well that your future depends on your boss having a favorable impression of you. And aren’t you suppressing your true feelings to be more gracious? Is this an acknowledgment that you true feelings are ungracious? Can you extend this principle beyond your boss?