For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
—Romans 8:38–39
This week we focus on people who call us to act out of loving union with God for the sake of others. Father Richard considers union with God as something that has already taken place, whether we experience it or not:
We are already in union with God! There is an absolute, eternal union between God and the soul of everything. At the deepest level, we are “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3) and “the whole creation … is being brought into the same glorious freedom as the children of God” (Romans 8:21). The problem is Western religion has not taught us this. For most Christians that I’ve worked with as a priest, God is still separate and “out there.” Most people are still trying to secure God’s approval. Our ego over-emphasizes our individuality and separateness from God and others. We limited God’s redemption to the human species—and not very many individuals within that species! [1]
Daily contemplative prayer helps us rediscover our inherent union and learn how to abide in Presence, trusting that we are already good and safe in God. We don’t have to worry about our little private, separate, insecure self. Jesus taught, I am one with you and you are one with your neighbor and we are all one with God. That’s the gospel! That’s the whole point of Communion or Eucharist; we partake of the bread and wine until they convince us that we are in communion. It seems easier for God to convince bread and wine of their identity than to convince us.
Believe it or not, we’re not here to save our souls. That’s already been done once and for all—in Christ, through Christ, with Christ, and as Christ (see Ephesians 1:3–14). By God’s love, mercy, and grace, we are already the Body of Christ: the one universal body that has existed since the beginning of time. You and I are here for just a few decades, dancing on the stage of life, perhaps taking our autonomous selves far too seriously. That little and clearly imperfect self just cannot believe it could be a child of God. I hope the gospel frees us to live inside of a life that is larger than the one our small selves have imagined. The larger life of the Body of Christ cannot be taken from us. It is the very life of God which cannot be destroyed. [2]
As Thomas Merton wrote in his journal, “We are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.” [3]
God’s Hand in Mine
I never know today what’s going to happen to me tonight, but I do know as I walk alone, I walk with my hand in God’s hand.
—Fannie Lou Hamer, Freedom Vote Rally, 1963
CAC teacher Barbara Holmes describes the prophetic witness of Civil Rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer (1917–1977):
I have chosen [Fannie Lou Hamer] as a contemplative exemplar because of her spiritual focus and resolve. Her practices spoke to the depth of her contemplative spirit. In the face of catastrophic suffering, Hamer worked, loved, sang, and resisted the powers that be. She was jailed, beaten, and hunted by the enforcers of the social order after registering to vote….
Hamer was centered; she drew power from the example of her parents in their struggle to transcend the impossible situation of their lives. She faced daunting odds, as she was not dealing with an abusive individual but instead the power of federal, state, and local governments and cultural traditions that deemed her to be a nonperson. This designation of non-personhood did not deter her, for her contemplative entry into a deeper “knowing” came through her commitment to nonviolence. Adherence to the spiritual disciplines of civil rights activism required that she love the crucifier, bless the torturer, embrace the jailer, and pray for his or her salvation. She did this and more. [1]
Hamer often grounded her words in Scripture and in her faith that God and God’s justice was with her.
It’s poison; it’s poison for us not to speak what we know is right. As Christ said from the seventeenth chapter of Acts and the twenty-sixth verse, says: “Has made of one blood all nations, for to dwell on the face of the earth.” Then it’s no different, we just have different colors.
And, brother, you can believe this or not: I been sick of this system as long as I can remember…. I been as hungry—it’s a funny thing since I started working for Christ—it’s kind of like in the twenty-third of Psalms when he says, “Thou prepareth a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointed my head with oil and my cup runneth over.”
And I have walked through the shadows of death because it was on the tenth of September in ’62 when they shot sixteen times in a house and it wasn’t a foot over the bed where my head was. But that night I wasn’t there—don’t you see what God can do? Quit running around trying to dodge death because this book said, “He that seeketh to save his life, he’s going to lose it anyhow!” [Luke 9:24] …
All we got to do—that’s why I love the song “This Little Light of Mine”—from the fifth chapter of Matthew. He said, “A city that’s set on a hill cannot be hid.” And I don’t mind my light shining; I don’t hide that I’m fighting for freedom because Christ died to set us free. [2]
(From John Chaffee’s Friday Five.)
| 1.“The reason that a mature or saintly person can be so peaceful, so accepting of self and others, is that there is not much left of the hidden shadow self!“– Fr. Richard Rohr, Franciscan Friar“…There is not much left of the hidden shadow self!” That’s the best line of the quote! There isn’t much “hidden”! All of us have shadows, issues, and things about ourselves that we are desperately trying not to deal with or acknowledge. For many of us, we were trained to get rid of our shadow stuff or to deny that it exists at all. But here, Richard is reminding us that the true solution is that we no longer hide our shadow stuff from even ourselves! Unhealthy religion “dis-integrates” the shadows we all have, and tries to avoid acknowledging them. Healthy religion, “integrates” the shadows and learns to show grace and mercy.2.“Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will, and being just what God wants us to be.“– St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the ChurchLet’s be honest, being “just what God wants us to be” is equally difficult and easy at the same time.3.“Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others. Anytime we can listen to true self and give it the care it requires, we do it not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives we touch.“– Parker Palmer, Poet and ActivistPerhaps there is a theme going on in my life, a theme that circles back every so many months. It centers around self-care and the true self. Currently, I am in an area surrounded by Villanova University, St. Joseph’s University, Haverford College, Bryn Mawr College, and many others, the area can have a vibe of hurry and seeking to impress one another. If we want to have any semblance of goodness in the world, it perhaps begins first with being good to ourselves… To give ourselves self-care and to live from our true self, not some false self we hope others will love.4.“The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.“– St. Teresa of Avila, Carmelite ReformerHopefully, you don’t mind, but I fully realize that I quote Teresa rather often in these 5 on Friday emails. But she is just so dang good to muse on. 5.“Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! Behold, you were within and I was without; and there I sought you, plunging unformed as I was into the fair things that you have formed and made. You were with me, and I was not with you. I was kept far from you by the things that would not have been, were they not in you. You called and cried aloud, and shattered my deafness; you flashed and blazed like lightning, and routed my blindness. You cast your fragrance, and I drew breath, yet pant for you; I tasted, yet hunger and thirst; you touched me, and I was on fire for your peace.“– St. Augustine of Hippo, Mystic and TheologianThis quote comes from Book 10 of The Confessions. The first time I read it, I underlined AND highlighted it. It was so gloriously poetic and powerful, so theological and intimate. Augustine certainly started out his path as a mystic, and it is quite clear from this. How tragic is it that all of Western theology since has more focused on logic and rhetoric rather than the poeticism of figures like Augustine! Imagine what the world could look like if every one of us could say these words authentically and from our own deep experience! |
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