Evening star., 1959-12-27
SPIRES OF THE SPIRIT !
Getting Outside Oneself
By DR. FREDERICK BROWN HARRIS
BY DR.. FREDERICK BROWN HARRIS
Chaplain Of the United States Senate

Life has no other hair
breadth escape comparable
to that of getting away
from oneself. A walled-in
self is the most miserable of
prisons. Scrooge Of Dickens
Christmas Carol" reminds
us Of that, and Of what an
adventure 1t is to get away
from a selfish self.
There is one thing that
lifts Christmas shopping out
Of its tiresomeness and be-
wtlderment, and its stress
and its strain. That thing,
lovely as glittering creations
and the sparkle Of crowded
marts, is that every shopper
is shopping for others. With
weary feet and ebbing
strength and waning pa
tience, as just the right gift
eludes, the quest goes on to
please someone else. AS at
no other time the prison
doors Of self are flung open.
In the common round there
are many demanding voices
to keep the home fires
burning. Every homemaker
and homekeeper faces the
persistent question Of food
and clothes as, knocking at
the kitchen doors, are always
the butcher. the baker and
the candlestick maker. These
are not little concerns or
selfish interests, but they can
gradually fashion the stones
with which to build a prison
as one goes on providing the
necessities, and, as someone
has put 1t, cooperating
with the inevitable" But at
Christmas cherished friend
ships glow with such luster
that some symbol of endur-
ing love seems more impor-
tant than balanced budgets.
And so once a year, re-
spending to the spirit of
earth's greatest birthday cell
ebration, even people usually
self-contained and aloof, who
most Of the time practice
common sense and practical
caution. get away from them
selves. That is the glory of
the Christmastide som e.
how people do get away from
themselves. and realize the
truth Of the couplet
Self is the only prison that
can ever bind the soul,
Love Is the only angel ,DIlo
can bid the gates unroH.
Most nervous wrecks are
the harvest of an obsession
with self. A close friend of
mine who has dealt with
hundreds Of cases which
would come under the cate
CORY of neurasthenia has
this to say: He who has had
anything to do with neuras-
themes has been impressed
with their utter engrossment
with themselves. 1t Is indeed
the badge of their tribe.
Their thought, their CONVEX
sation. their letters, are all
Of themselves. No thought in
them goes out to stay out.
If 1t heads out 1t comes back
Immediately. 1t feeds on
themselves"
In q certain city o clean
ing woman was talking about
her neighbor who was an
Irritating problem to all
near her because Of the state
Of her nerves. She was q
wretched bundle Of whining
complaints. The simple,
well-balanced woman who
managed in her hard life to
have found the secret of
peace Of mind said, in
speaking Of the problem of
her neighbor, She'll never
be better till she gets away
from herself" That diagno-
sis couldn't have been put
more pertinently or accu-
rately by a professional psy-
chologist. The woman under
discussion looked out at all
the world from the prison Of
herself.
In Ibsen's story, Peter
Gynt visited a lunatic asy-
lum. He found 1t hard to be-
lieve that the people who
were there were really in