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Thomas pokes his finger into the wound on the resurrected Jesus' chest with a look of disbelief on his face.

Cave Painting, Lascaux, France, 15,000-10,000 B.C.  

Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation

Introduction

Life as Participation

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Listen to the news or look around and within you—it is clear that we are mostly going nowhere. Each individual is on his or her own to find and create his or her personal meaning. This does not work, especially for the young. As a result, there is little sense of the common good. Thus we are repeating the same patterns that produce violence, suffering, emotional immaturity, and death. We need new ways of thinking and being to engage with others through our simple humanity, our brokenness, differences, and complexity. We must do the hard work of learning to live a generative life for others, living out our sacred soul task in service to the world.

How you do anything is how you do everything! For our spirituality to be authentic, we must practice unitive consciousness in our conversations, problem solving, politics, vocations, lifestyle, and even our dying. Indeed, the goal of mature religion is to help us die before we die, so we are ready for our real life! All major religions describe this in one way or another: a false sense of self must be let go of before the True Self can stand revealed. This is basic and essential conversion.

Our contemplative practice is a “laboratory” in which we learn to die to our passing emotions and thoughts and to receive the always-permanent Divine gaze. The rest of our life becomes the field in which we live out this participation in Love, bouncing back the gaze of grace to the Other and then having plenty left over for all others besides.

This is what I hope to offer in the coming year, teachings that offer hope and practical ways of living our spirituality in our very active lives. We might call it, as Pope Francis does, “spiritual activism.”

Gateway to Silence:
My true self is love.

 
 

Related resources:

Contemplation AND Action (MP3 download)

Contemplation in Action (book)

 
 

On the Threshold:
Teachings for Ending and Beginning Times


Rohr Institute Online Education

Begin the New Year with in-depth study and formation:

Breathing Under Water
January 22 - March 19, 2014
Beyond the Bird Bath
February 19 - April 9, 2014


Visit store.cac.org to order and register.

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