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Sixth Theme: The path of descent is the path of transformation. Darkness, failure, relapse, death, and woundedness are our primary teachers, rather than ideas or doctrines (Process).
Friday, November 1, 2013
All Saints’ Day
We Live in the Shadowlands
Meditation 44 of 51
All God appears to want from us is honesty and humility (and they are finally the same thing). If God is holding out for human perfection, God is going to have a long wait. There is no other way to read Jesus’ stories of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) or the publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14). In each story, the one who did wrong ends up being right—simply because he is honest and humble about it. The one who is formally right ends up being terribly wrong because he is proud about his own performance.
How have we been able to miss that important point? I suspect it is because the ego wants to think well of itself and deny any shadow material. Only the soul knows we grow best in the shadowlands. We are blinded inside of either total light or total darkness, but “the light shines on inside the darkness, and it is a light that darkness cannot overcome” (John 1:5). Ironically, it is in darkness that we find and ever long for more light. Mystics like John of the Cross recognized this to be true on the spiritual level first. It seems the inner and outer worlds mirror one another.
How Jesus Interpreted Scripture (He was not a fundamentalist!)
December 10, 2013 • 5:00 p.m. (U.S. Mountain Time)
What is the core message of Scripture and what does it tell us about
God’s character? Jesus shows us a biblical text tending toward
inclusivity, mercy, and justice. He reveals a benevolent God.
