"Turned in upon oneself," attributed to Augustine, though the concept goes back to Paul in the NT. It is spiritually tied deeply to the ideas on original sin, and fallen humanity.
CS Lewis mentions in a few places, especially in The Great Divorce, that to be able to focus on any thing outside of ourselves is a step away from complete damnation, and even unworthy objects are far better targets for our affection than our own selves.
"That Jones shall worship the god within him turns out ultimately to mean that Jones shall worship Jones. Let Jones worship the sun or moon, anything rather than the Inner Light; let Jones worship cats or crocodiles, if he can find any in his street, but not the god within." -- G. K. Chesteron, Orthodoxy
ReplyDeleteChesterton again: from The Common Man
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