{"id":21296,"date":"2022-05-02T09:20:41","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T13:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=21296"},"modified":"2022-05-02T09:55:05","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T13:55:05","slug":"21296","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=21296","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OkF2reI4U58\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Week Eighteen: The Spiral of Violence<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Root of Violence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In a conference with Trappist monk Thomas Keating, Father Richard Rohr considered how contemplation is an antidote to violence:&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T<strong>he root of violence is\u00a0<\/strong><em><strong>the illusion of separation<\/strong><\/em>\u2014from God, from Being itself, and from being one with everyone and everything. When we don\u2019t know we are connected, we will invariably resort to some form of violence to get the dignity and power we lack. <strong>Contemplation of the gospel message gradually trains us not to make so much of differences, but to return to who we are\u2014our True Selves in God\u2014<\/strong>which is always beyond any nationality, religion, skin color, gender, sexuality, or any other possible labels. In fact, we finally can see that those are always and only commercial labels, covering the rich product underneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we <strong>can become little enough, naked enough, and honest enough, then we will ironically find that we are more than enough<\/strong>. At this place of poverty and freedom, we have nothing to prove and nothing to protect. Here we can connect with everything and everyone. Everything belongs. This cuts violence at its very roots, before there is even a basis for fear or greed\u2014the things that usually cause us to be angry, suspicious, and violent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be clear, it is inconceivable that a true Christian would be racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic, homophobic, or bigoted toward any group or individual, especially toward the poor and vulnerable, which seems to be an acceptable American prejudice. <strong>To end the cycle of violence, our actions must flow from our authentic identity as Love.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the reasons I founded the Center for Action and Contemplation was to give activists some grounding in spirituality so they could c<strong>ontinue working for social change, but\u00a0<\/strong><em><strong>from a stance much different than vengeance, ideology, or willpower pressing against willpower<\/strong><\/em>. Most activists I knew loved Gandhi\u2019s and Martin Luther King, Jr.\u2019s teachings on nonviolence. But it became clear to me that many of them had only an intellectual appreciation rather than a participation in the much deeper mystery. The ego was <strong>still in charge, and I often saw people creating victims of others who were not like them. It was still a power game, not the science of love that Jesus taught us.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we begin by connecting with our inner experience of communion rather than separation, our actions can become pure, clear, and firm. This kind of action, rooted in one\u2019s True Self, comes from a deeper knowing of what is real, good, true, and beautiful, beyond labels and dualistic judgments of right or wrong. From this place, our energy is positive and has the most potential to create change for the good. This stance is precisely what we mean by \u201cbeing in prayer.\u201d We must pray \u201cunceasingly\u201d to maintain this posture. It is a lifelong process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We wait in prayer, but we <strong>don\u2019t wait for absolutely perfect motivation or we will never act.<\/strong> <strong>Radical union with God and neighbor should be our starting place, not private perfection.<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><strong>Week Eighteen: The Spiral of Violence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Root of Violence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In a conference with Trappist monk Thomas Keating, Father Richard Rohr considered how contemplation is an antidote to violence:&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The root of violence is&nbsp;<\/strong><em><strong>the illusion of separation<\/strong><\/em><strong>\u2014from God, from Being itself, and from being one with everyone and everything<\/strong>. When we don\u2019t know we are connected, we will invariably resort to some form of violence to get the dignity and power we lack. <strong>Contemplation of the gospel message gradually trains us not to make so much of differences, but to return to who we are\u2014our True Selves in God<\/strong>\u2014which is always beyond any nationality, religion, skin color, gender, sexuality, or any other possible labels. In fact, we finally can see that those are always and only commercial labels, covering the rich product underneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we can <strong>become little enough, naked enough, and honest enough, then we will ironically find that we are more than enough. <\/strong>At this place of poverty and freedom, we have nothing to prove and nothing to protect. Here we can connect with everything and everyone. Everything belongs. This cuts violence at its very roots, before there is even a basis for fear or greed\u2014the things that usually cause us to be angry, suspicious, and violent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be clear, it is inconceivable that a true Christian would be racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic, homophobic, or bigoted toward any group or individual, especially toward the poor and vulnerable, which seems to be an acceptable American prejudice. <strong>To end the cycle of violence, our actions must flow from our authentic identity as Love.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the reasons I founded the Center for Action and Contemplation was to give activists some grounding in spirituality so they could <strong>continue working for social change, but&nbsp;<\/strong><em><strong>from a stance much different than vengeance, ideology, or willpower pressing against willpower<\/strong><\/em>. Most activists I knew loved Gandhi\u2019s and Martin Luther King, Jr.\u2019s teachings on nonviolence. But it became clear to me that many of them had only an intellectual appreciation rather than a participation in the much deeper mystery. The <strong>ego was still in charge, and I often saw people creating victims of others who were not like them.<\/strong> It was still a power game, not the science of love that Jesus taught us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we begin by connecting with our inner experience of communion rather than separation, our actions can become pure, clear, and firm. This kind of action, <strong>rooted in one\u2019s True Self, comes from a deeper knowing of what is real, good, true, and beautiful, beyond labels and dualistic judgments of right or wrong. <\/strong>From this place, our energy is positive and has the most potential to create change for the good. This stance is precisely what we mean by \u201cbeing in prayer.\u201d We must pray \u201cunceasingly\u201d to maintain this posture. It is a lifelong process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We wait in prayer, but we<strong> don\u2019t wait for absolutely perfect motivation or we will never act. Radical union with God and neighbor should be our starting place, not private perfection.<\/strong><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The World, the Flesh, and the Devil<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For Father Richard, the cycle of violence mirrors the cycle of evil:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brazilian archbishop H\u00e9lder C\u00e2mara (1909\u20131999) was a brilliant nonviolent activist who offered a model for understanding how structural injustice leads to greater violence. He wrote: \u201cIf violence is met by violence, the world will fall into&nbsp;<em>a spiral of violence<\/em>\u201d (emphasis mine). [1] I overlay Dom H\u00e9lder\u2019s teaching with traditional Catholic moral teaching which saw the <strong>three primary sources of evil as the world, the flesh, and the devil\u2014in that order. <\/strong>When evil and institutionalized violence (\u201cstructural sin\u201d) go unrecognized at the first level, the second and third levels of violence and evil are inevitable. If we don\u2019t nip evil in the bud at the level where it is legitimated and disguised, we will have little power to fight it at the individual level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By \u201cworld\u201d we don\u2019t mean creation or nature, but \u201c<strong>the system\u201d: how groups, cultures, institutions, and nations organize to protect themselves and maintain their powe<\/strong>r. This is the most hidden and denied level of evil and violence. We cannot see it because we\u2019re all inside of it, and <strong>it is in our ego\u2019s self-interest to protect this corporate deception.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Historically, organized religion has put most of its concern at the middle level of the spiral of violence, or what we called \u201cthe flesh.\u201d Flesh in this context is individual sin, the personal mistakes that we make. Individual evil is certainly real, but the very word \u201cflesh\u201d has made us preoccupied with sexual sins, which Jesus rarely mentioned.&nbsp;<em><strong>When we punish or shame individuals for their sins, we are usually treating symptoms rather than the root problem or cause: the illusion of separation from God and others<\/strong><\/em><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the top of the spiral of violence sits \u201cthe devil.\u201d This personification of evil is hard to describe because it\u2019s so well disguised and even idealized. If \u201cthe world\u201d is hidden structural violence, primarily through oppression and injustice, then \u201cthe devil\u201d is&nbsp;<em>sanctified, romanticized, and legitimated violence<\/em>\u2014violence deemed culturally necessary to control the other two levels: the angry flesh and the world run amuck. A<strong>ny institution thought of as \u201ctoo big to fail\u201d or somehow above criticism<\/strong> has a strong possibility of diabolical misuse. Think of the <strong>military industrial complex, the penal system, the worldwide banking system, multinational corporations subject to no law, tax codes benefiting the wealthy, the healthcare and pharmaceutical establishments, the worldwide war economy led by my own country, or even organized religion<\/strong>. We need and admire these institutions all too much. Paul called this level of violence <strong>\u201cpowers, principalities, thrones, and dominions\u201d (Ephesians 6:12).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we do not recognize the roots of violence at the first structural level (\u201cthe world\u201d), we will waste time focusing exclusively on the second and individual level (\u201cthe flesh\u201d), and we will seldom see those <strong>real evils which disguise themselves as angels of light (\u201cthe devil\u201d). Remember, Lucifer means \u201cLight Bearer.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Thomas Aquinas (1225\u20131274) taught,&nbsp;<em>Evil only succeeds by disguising itself as good.<\/em>&nbsp;[2]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"338\" src=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/image-1-500x338.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21301\" srcset=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/image-1-500x338.png 500w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/image-1-300x203.png 300w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/image-1-768x520.png 768w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/image-1.png 1768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Week Eighteen: The Spiral of Violence The Root of Violence In a conference with Trappist monk Thomas Keating, Father Richard Rohr considered how contemplation is an antidote to violence:&nbsp; The root of violence is\u00a0the illusion of separation\u2014from God, from Being itself, and from being one with everyone and everything. When we don\u2019t know we are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21296"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21296"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21304,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21296\/revisions\/21304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}