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| Monroe County |
"It is often when the ego is most deconstructed that we can hear things anew and begin some honest reconstruction, even if it is only half heard and halfhearted." (Rohr, Richard, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, K 466)
This is true. But first, a note about the term "deconstruction." This word does not mean tearing down something so a new thing can be rebuilt. See here, e.g.
Rohr (and many others) use the word to mean something like a "tearing down" or peeling away layers of stuff to enable some kind of reconstruction. "Deconstruct" is being popularized, like "existentialism" once was.
That being said, I think it's true that layers of the false self need to be peeled away by God so as to restore the original imago dei within. We are created in God's image. That image is largely covered over and obscured. Among other things, this makes it hard to see things clearly. As we allow God to do restorative work in our heart it begins with stripping away accretions of falsehood. The more the false self gets stripped away, the better we hear the true voice of God. This soul-restoration happens as we spend much time in God's presence.
