We Enigmas

In the 2007 edition of my very long annual Christmas letter I talked about people being enigmas.  Along those lines, I quoted author Brennan Manning from his book THE RAGAMUFFIN GOSPEL.  There is another Manning quote that I considered using to make my point about humans being complex.  This one is from his book ABBA'S CHILD which I actually like better.  The quote that follows is from chapter nine, "The Rabbi's Heartbeat."  This is one of my favorite passages:

"Whom can I level with?  To whom can I bare my soul? Whom dare I tell that I am benevolent and malevolent, chaste and randy, compassionate and vindictive, selfless and selfish, that beneath my brave words lives a frightened child, that I dabble in religion and in pornography, that I have blackened a friend's character, betrayed a trust, violated a confidence, that I am tolerant and thoughtful, a bigot and a blowhard, and that I really hate okra?"