“I am reminded of a man of about sixty who was brought to me
because of his auditory hallucinations lasting over many decades. I was facing a ruined personality. As it turned out, everyone in his environment
regarded him as an idiot. Yet, what a
strange charm radiated from this man! As
a child he wanted to become a priest.
However, he had to be content with the only joy he could experience, and
that was singing in the church coir on Sunday mornings. Now, his sister, who accompanied him,
reported that sometimes he grew very excited;
Yet in the last moment he was always able to regains elf-control. I became interested in the psychodynamics
underlying the case, for I thought there was a strong fixation of the patient
on his sister, so I asked how he managed to regain his self-control: “For whose
sake do you do so?” Thereupon, there
was pause of some seconds and then the
patient answered: “For God’s sake.” At
this moment, the depth of his personality revealed itself, and at the bottom of
his depth, irrespective of the poverty of his intellectual endowment, and
authentic religious life was disclosed.”
–Viktor Frankl
Sometimes we judge people on their degrees or facility with language. Sometimes we ought to stand back and judge ourselves.
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