{"id":22373,"date":"2023-04-26T09:25:29","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T13:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=22373"},"modified":"2023-04-26T09:36:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T13:36:10","slug":"22373","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=22373","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"God Will Make a Way (with lyrics) - Don Moen\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1zo3fJYtS-o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Don\u2019t Make Much of It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In whatever state we may find ourselves, whether in strength or in weakness, in joy or in sorrow, to whatever we may feel attached, we must renounce it.<br>\u2014Meister Eckhart, sermon on Luke 1:57&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For CAC teacher James Finley, practicing contemplative detachment helps us recognize that our feelings, real as they are, do not ultimately determine who we are. From his work as a psychotherapist and spiritual director, Finley offers a gentle way of understanding this teaching:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do not become attached. If you\u2019re in sorrow and utter loss, don\u2019t become attached to the experience of yourself in moments of utter loss. Rather, be detached from your loss. It\u2019s real\u2014but know that the loss doesn\u2019t have the authority to name who you are, for only the infinite generosity of God giving itself to you in this very moment has the authority to name who you are. <strong>So, the loss is real. Feel it; it\u2019s real. But don\u2019t yield to its claim to carry you off, as if the sorrow that you\u2019re in has the authority to name who you are and what\u2019s possible for you. Because only the infinite love of God has the authority.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Likewise, if you\u2019re in a moment of joy, like real joy over something, be joyful, but be detached from your joy. Because the joy is finite, the joy is ephemeral, the joy is passing away. Enjoy it but realize that compared to the eternal joy\u2014\u201cthe joy that death does not have the power to destroy\u201d\u2014<strong>this joy that you\u2019re experiencing is fleeting. Don\u2019t get hung up over your joy. Be detached from joy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Finley offers wisdom he learned from Thomas Merton (1915\u20131968), who was his novice master when Finley was a young monk:&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Often, when I\u2019d go in to see Thomas Merton for spiritual direction, he\u2019d say, \u201cHow\u2019s it going?\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I\u2019d say, \u201cI\u2019m doing well!\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And he\u2019d say, \u201c<strong>Don\u2019t make much of it; it\u2019ll get worse.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And other times I would go in really down about something. And he\u2019d say, \u201c<strong>Don\u2019t make much of it; it\u2019ll get better.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It ebbs and flows, it ebbs and flows. But what is the <strong>infinite love that unwaveringly permeates the wavering ways of our heart? <\/strong>And how can we reserve this inner core place within ourself that cannot be accessed by the finite because it belongs completely to God?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the way, we should even be detached from that by also being aware of our inability to practice that, because we\u2019re just a human being. We know that when we\u2019re down, we\u2019re really down. And when we\u2019re joyful, we\u2019re joyful. <strong>So we have to be very careful not to become attached to the goal of becoming detached!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>We have to take a deep breath, and roll with the waves of the unfoldings of ourselves.\u00a0\u00a0<\/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\/2023\/04\/image-8-500x305.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22375\" width=\"820\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image-8-500x305.png 500w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image-8-300x183.png 300w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image-8-768x468.png 768w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image-8-1536x936.png 1536w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image-8-2048x1248.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don\u2019t Make Much of It In whatever state we may find ourselves, whether in strength or in weakness, in joy or in sorrow, to whatever we may feel attached, we must renounce it.\u2014Meister Eckhart, sermon on Luke 1:57&nbsp;&nbsp; For CAC teacher James Finley, practicing contemplative detachment helps us recognize that our feelings, real as they [&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\/22373"}],"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=22373"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22378,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22373\/revisions\/22378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}