The following quote is by Max Skousen
"Alma was delighted because he knew full well that before the goblet can be filled with the pure love and meekness of Christ, it must be drained of the proud and judgmental life of the natural man. But being drained is devastating to the ego. It truly breaks the heart. But the heart that is broken is the vain and foolish heart of self importance, arrogance and vanity.
However,we have nicer names for vanity. We call it a positive self image, self confidence, assertiveness and ambition. We love the good feelings and hate the bad feelings. In our modem day, with our great luxuries, which we call necessities, knowledge, which we call education, distractions, which we call entertainment and abundance, which we call security, we often find it hard to be humble when we are so great!
So what did Alma find in these desperate seekers? In their helplessness, there was a definite sense of not knowing, not understanding, a state of confusion. Actually, believe it or not, being poor in heart can be a very advantageous state of consciousness if
one's heart, out of frustration, starts letting go of many of those
beliefs and conclusions which held one's world of vanity together."
