Friday, February 21, 2025
Father Richard considers the transformative impact of people who live within the cosmic egg:
The person who lives within the total cosmic egg is the mystic, the prophet, the universal human, the saint, the whole one. These are people like Mahatma Gandhi, St. Bonaventure, Martin Luther King Jr., St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. John Henry Newman, Dag Hammarskjöld, and Julian of Norwich (my favorite mystic). These are the people who look out—with eyes wide as saucers—at the smaller pictures because they observe from the utterly big picture. These are the ones who can both honor and listen to smaller, personal stories, and also live in the final state of affairs, already, now. They are often called seers because their perspective contains many eyes, even, somehow, the eyes of God.
Great “seers” operate beyond mere group loyalties; beyond any simple, dualistic thinking that always puts them on the “right” side; beyond winners and losers, good and bad. They are somehow able to live by universal principles while still caring for the specific; honoring cultural norms, yet making room for the exceptions. They have seen in a contemplative way, beyond the shadow and the disguise, beyond the suffocating skin of the private self and the self-serving egotisms of group. The contemplative mind integrates and gives focus to all our calculating and controlling. Without it, there is only civil and self-serving religion.
True reconstruction will be led by those who can engage reality at all four levels simultaneously. They can honor the divine level and live ultimately inside of a great big story line. They appreciate the needs and context of our story and other stories and don’t dismiss them as mere cultural trappings or meaningless traditions. They won’t say that my story is not important, either. They won’t demean or dismiss people who are working on personal issues or addressing the important identity concerns of the first half of life.
Most importantly, we cannot separate personal healing from societal healing. It’s not sequential, but simultaneous. Many in our therapeutically focused society think they first must find healing and integration personally and then they will be free to serve groups or search for God. Yet it seems to me that it all happens in a spiral. In fact, there is a natural ecology of checks and balances between the four domes of meaning. I was lucky and blessed enough to have good family, religion, community, helpful therapy, and time for self-knowledge—overlapping one another like waves from an endless sea. Most people emphasize only one or the other, but those who honor all four levels have transcended the limitations of a single story. True transcendence frees us from the tyranny of I am, the idolatry of we are, and the scapegoating of they are. When all four stories are taken seriously, as the Bible shows us very well, we have a full life—fully human and fully divine.
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5 On Friday; John Chaffee
1.
“Distrust anyone in whom the desire to punish is strong.“
– Friedrich Nietzsche, Atheist German Philosopher
Lutheranism surrounded Nietzsche in his younger years. His father was a Lutheran pastor. And, although he is understood as a strong critic of religion and Christianity in particular, there are ways in which he was critiquing the dominant religiosity with what Christianity already taught him.
From my Lutheran upbringing and seminary education, it was a central point that God is not punishing. God might prune us, but that is not the same as punishment. I cannot help but think that this quote above is in complete harmony with what Lutheran theology teaches.
Here is the thing: Our image of God creates a moral limit for us. If God is allowed to punish, then we are allowed to punish. If God does not punish but seeks to restore, then we should not punish and should seek to restore. If God’s mercy eventually runs out, then we are permitted to, at some point, become merciless with others.
Do you see what I am getting at?
If we do not trust a false god who is quick to punish, then perhaps we should stop trusting figures who are also quick to punish.
2.
“Whether this is the first day of the Apocalypse or the first day of the Golden Age, the work remains the same… love each other and ease as much suffering as possible.“
– Ram Dass (aka Dr. Richard Alpert), Havard Professor
This is fantastic.
In other words, this is the work of the Tikkun Olam. I have mentioned this idea many times in the past, but it is just that good.
Tikkun Olam is the “ongoing repairing of the world.” It is a task that none of us can complete, and none can abdicate. We are all called to participate in and help the world heal, no matter our life circumstances.
The Tikkun Olam is the work of Divine Love.
3.
“The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.“
– St. Teresa of Avila, Spanish Catholic Reformer
If I were to point out the two most influential female Christian mystics and theologians in my life, they would undoubtedly be Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila. I would love to reread Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love, but I have already read Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila 4 times.
It feels like the simple life is less and less valued in today’s culture. It feels as though people are chasing after being complex or multifaceted. We want to stand out by being masters of all things and to chase after the endless treadmill of being unique “enough” to be loveable.
However, the idea that God is simple and invites us into simplicity is attractive.
In the past month, I have debated not just deleting all social media but the accounts altogether. I have wondered what my life would be like if I had more quotes coming to me from Jesus rather than Trump. How might my life look if I intentionally downsized my life’s activities so that I could have more time to be slow and intentional? What could my life look like if every moment was grounded in presence rather than distraction after distraction?
If Teresa of Avila is correct here, I wonder if our pursuit of complexity and increase is also a way of running away from God.
4.
“There is no way to peace, peace is the way.“
– AJ Muste, Reformed Pastor and Activist
The idea that peace must be fought for or that violence must happen and that there might eventually be peace is a common one. We all know the adage, “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
Some history buffs might also know about the Pax Romana, a Latin phrase meaning “The Peace of Rome.” The Roman Empire indeed produced a lot of peace for its citizens. However, it came at the cost of obliterating anyone who opposed Rome. The Roman Empire would crush and destroy any foreigner or civilian who opposed its rule. Hence, there was “peace.”
AJ Muste put it simply, though. “There is no way to peace, peace is the way.” It is not that we must fight to have peace; if we want peace, we must learn to practice it now rather than in an imagined or delayed future. It means that we must disagree and even argue with one another peaceably. Peace itself IS the way.
5.
“The Gospel of liberation is bad news to all oppressors because they have defined their freedom in terms of slavery of others.”
– James H. Cone, American Theologian
To all the kings and pharaohs and presidents of the world, the true Gospel of Jesus is inherently disruptive. It means that those at the bottom are worthy of being treated with dignity and respect and that God turns a special eye to them. In Liberation Theology, this is the “preferential option for the poor.” In Jesus’ verbiage, “Whatever you do for the least of these brothers and sisters you do for me.” (Matthew 25:45)
To those at the top of the hierarchies of the world, the “Gospel” benefits them when it only cares about sins but not about structures of oppression. They want the “Gospel” to be about forgiving people when they disobey their government.
(Sin is so much more than simply violating the laws of the land.)
To any oppressors who stand upon the backs of poor peasants and slaves, it means that their little empires deserve to crumble. God is not willing that any human empire be built upon the backs of forced labor; that is a significant theme of the Book of Exodus, and yet we miss it!
It is fascinating, though, that the Greek word for Savior is Σοτερ (Soter), and it also means “Liberator.” Conservatives love to focus on Christ as a Savior of Sinners, and Liberals love to focus on Christ as a Liberator of the Oppressed. Our task is to hold Christ fully as both Savior AND Liberator.
