You are…a royal priesthood… —1 Peter 2:9
By what right have we become “a royal priesthood”? It is by the right of the atonement by the Cross of Christ that this has been accomplished. Are we prepared to purposely disregard ourselves and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual inner-searching we do in an effort to see if we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God. Until we get into this right and proper relationship with God, it is simply a case of our “hanging on by the skin of our teeth,” although we say,
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Jesus himself taught and exemplified the path of descent, which Christians have often called “the way of the cross.” The path downward is much more trustworthy than any path upward, which tends to feed the ego. Like few other Christians, it was Francis of Assisi who profoundly understood that.
Authentic spirituality is always on some level or in some way about letting go. Jesus said, “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Once we see truly what traps us and keeps us from freedom we should see the need to let it go. But in a consumer society most of us have had no training in that direction. Rather, more is usually considered better.
True liberation is letting go of our small self, letting go of our cultural biases, and letting go of our fear of loss and death. (read more)…..https://cac.org/the-path-of-descent-2017-06-21/
Journal DJR
Good morning Lord,
Today both or our writers mention “letting go” rather than holding on as the way to freedom and peace. You have taught us to be suspect of what we’ve called the Big Four… the need to Look good, Feel good, Be right, and Be in control. Rohr adds a view thru a slightly different lens… letting go of our need for power and control, safety and security, and affection and esteem. In meditation about letting go of all of this stuff, I’m seeing that none of those items are bad in themselves, being right, having safety or affection, etc. Rather it is the “need” for those thing and the striving for them to the extent that we become blind and deaf to the needs around us and what you are saying to us. So the challenge seems to be the de-coupling of the need and striving from those things. Being right, Feeling Good, Being in control and having security and esteem are not bad if they come to us, rather than being things that we strive after. How can that de-coupling happen? How do we work together with you to walk in those blessings without getting tangled up in chasing after them?
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