{"id":21900,"date":"2022-12-12T09:54:16","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T14:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=21900"},"modified":"2022-12-12T10:18:24","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T15:18:24","slug":"21900","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=21900","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Rachael Lampa - Perfectly Loved (Official Lyric Video) featuring TOBYMAC\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WfUkEgG5rEk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is the Universe on Our Side?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard Rohr describes three different worldviews people adhere to:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Underneath the religious or belief systems we hold, there are often <strong>three possible worldviews: The universe is against us, the universe is for us, or the universe is neutral.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latter says that reality is indifferent. There is no God against us or for us; we\u2019re basically on our own in the universe. Many good and even religious people subscribe to this worldview. Life has sadly convinced them that there probably is a God, and God might even be just and good, but this God is not actively involved in our lives or history.<strong> We can go through all the rites and services, follow all the rules, but if the grace of God hasn\u2019t deeply touched us\u2014which is the full meaning of conversion\u2014we will have no meaningful awareness of the divine<\/strong>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s the malaise of much of Western Christianity today. Many people keep up the external observance of reliance upon God, but underneath depend only on themselves. \u201cNothing\u2019s going to happen unless I make it happen,\u201d such people say to themselves. There is no active trust in the presence or the reality of God, or that God makes any real difference. This form of secularism is <strong>insidious because we can\u2019t get at it. All the right words and ideas are there, but there is a foundational sense of an indifferent universe and an indifferent, distant God.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If someone stays in an indifferent universe for long, they <strong>usually move to the second worldview where reality is perceived as hostile, destructive, or judgmental.<\/strong> Not only is God not involved but God has to be appeased. For such people God is somehow actively&nbsp;<em>against<\/em>&nbsp;humanity: watching us, judging us, critiquing us, and certainly not on our side. Many Christians claim they don\u2019t believe that, but it\u2019s clear that they do from the fearful way they live.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The third worldview <strong>can only be given by grace, though it has a great head start with a loving and merciful family system. <\/strong>In this group the universe is not against us, nor is it sitting out there indifferent. Somehow, it\u2019s on our side! Reality can be trusted. We don\u2019t need to pull all the right strings or push all the right buttons. <strong>Grace is everywhere. It\u2019s good to be here. Life is perhaps difficult, but it is still good and trustworthy at the core.<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until we meet a benevolent God and a benevolent universe, until we realize that the foundation of all is love, we will not be at home in this world. That meeting of God, that understanding experience, cannot be communicated by words. It is a gift given through encounter with Spirit. Its inherent character<strong> is best described by three overlapping characteristics: faith, hope, and love. When we experience those virtues, allow them to transform us, and are able pass them on, we are participating in the very life of God.&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Foundational Trust&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard shares how faith, hope, and love allow our participation in the benevolent nature of the universe:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the very beginning, faith, hope, and love are planted deep within our nature\u2014indeed they<em>&nbsp;are<\/em>&nbsp;our very nature as children of God (Romans 5:1\u20135, 8:14\u201317). Yet <strong>we have to awaken, allow, and advance this core identity by saying a conscious&nbsp;<em>yes<\/em>&nbsp;to it and drawing upon it as a reliable and Absolute Source.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our \u201cyes\u201d to such implanted faith, hope, and love plays a crucial role in the divine equation. Human freedom matters. We matter. We have to choose to trust reality and even our physicality, which is finally to trust ourselves. How can people who do not trust themselves know how to trust anyone or anything at all? Trust, like love, is of one piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the practical order, we find our Original Goodness, the image of God that we are, when we can discover and own the faith, hope, and love deeply planted within us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A trust in inner coherence itself. \u201cIt all means something!\u201d (Faith)<br>A trust that this coherence is positive and going somewhere good. (Hope)<br>A trust that this coherence includes me and even defines me. (Love)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the soul\u2019s foundation. That we are <strong>capable of such trust and surrender is the objective basis for human goodness and holiness<\/strong>. It almost <strong>needs to be chosen again day by day, lest we slide toward cynicism, victim playing and making, or self-pity.<\/strong> No philosophy or government, no law or reason, can fully promise or offer us this attitude, but the gospel can and does. Healthy religion shares a compelling and attractive foundation for human goodness and dignity and shows us ways to build on that benevolent foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being<strong> created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26\u201327) gives everyone an equal and inherent dignity. <\/strong>However, in every age and culture, we have seen regressions toward racism, sexism, homophobia, militarism, ableism, and classism. <strong>This pattern tells me that unless we see dignity as being given universally, objectively, and from the beginning by God, we humans will constantly think it is up to us to decide.<\/strong> But our <strong>tragic history demonstrates that one group cannot be trusted to portion out worthiness and dignity to another. <\/strong>Our criteria tend to be self-referential and thus highly prejudiced, and the powerless and disadvantaged always lose out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the planet and for all living beings to move forward, we can rely on nothing less than\u00a0<em>an inherent original goodness and a universally shared dignity.\u00a0<\/em>Only then can we build, because the foundation is strong, and is itself good. Surely this is what Jesus meant when he told us to \u201cdig and dig deep, and build your house on rock\u201d (Luke 6:48). When we <strong>start with a positive vision, a resounding\u00a0<em>yes<\/em>, we are more likely to proceed with generosity and hope, and we have a much greater chance of ending with an even bigger yes, which we would call \u201cresurrection.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-1-500x402.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21901\" width=\"836\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-1-500x402.png 500w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-1-300x241.png 300w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-1-768x618.png 768w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-1-1536x1236.png 1536w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-1.png 1660w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is the Universe on Our Side?&nbsp; Father Richard Rohr describes three different worldviews people adhere to:&nbsp;&nbsp; Underneath the religious or belief systems we hold, there are often three possible worldviews: The universe is against us, the universe is for us, or the universe is neutral.&nbsp; The latter says that reality is indifferent. There is no [&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\/21900"}],"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=21900"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21907,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21900\/revisions\/21907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}