valuing people for what is internal not external

letter XLI to lucilius from seneca has this passage that really resonated with me:



i think what i really like about seneca’s letters to lucilius are the simple way that he expressed big truths. this insight, for example, isn’t a new point. in fact, it aligns with most of my christian upbringing where possessions are perceived as a liability. Jesus himself tells people that some of them are actually hindered on getting into heaven because they have too much stuff:


but what seneca’s phrasing adds to it (which the bible says, just in other places and not that same passage) is that it’s ones internal characteristics that should be celebrated and praised. if our society could get a real handle on that truth, we’d be such a different reality.

on a similar note, my friend caroline, i were talking the other day and she came to a similar conclusion though from a different angle. she’s had a really tough year. when we were chatting she said something like: “at some point in life, everything external that we have will be stripped away or taken from us (if we don’t die first, which is the ultimate stripping). and yet, who we really are still exists in those moments of having almost everything taken away.”

both of these insights have reminded me this week that what’s internal is more important than what’s external. as much as society repeatedly tells us that material possessions matter, they really just don’t.

writing: 9:34
spell-check, link-finding, & formatting: 8:02