{"id":24252,"date":"2024-10-07T09:55:10","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T13:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=24252"},"modified":"2024-10-07T10:10:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T14:10:41","slug":"24252","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=24252","title":{"rendered":"Joy in Solidarity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Joy (Feat. David Dennis) | The Belonging Co | Lyric Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3vr4RKZTeOc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>CAC faculty member Dr. Barbara Holmes highlights God\u2019s call to joy and partnership in all circumstances:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>We are born with an inner fire. I believe that this fire is the God within. It is an unquenchable, divine fire. It warms us, encourages us, and occasionally asks us to dance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suppose that at the entrance to heaven there is a scale\u2014not a scale to weigh good and bad deeds\u2014but a scale to measure joy. Suppose our passage into the next life will not be determined by the number of souls saved, sermons preached, or holiness pursued. Just joy.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve become very somber Christians in a very somber age. It\u2019s not that we don\u2019t have things to be concerned about. There are wars, natural disasters, deficits, broken relationships and viruses. <strong>But in the midst of this, we\u2019re called to joy by a joyful God and a joyful Savior. <\/strong>Hierarchies have always been afraid of a dancing, joyful Jesus. They\u2019re not so worried about the institutional Christ, but they fear this living, singing Jesus who can boogie, who sings all the way to Gethsemane, and tells jokes. Remember the one he told the Pharisees about the camel and the eye of the needle?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>No matter the circumstances, we\u2019re called to joy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Holmes tells a story exemplifying the surprising joy that can be found in solidarity and struggle:<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years ago in December, I took a group of twelve seminarians of various races and denominations to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico\u2026. In a migrant shelter, a small man comes in for soup. His name is Manuel. He tells us he\u2019s crossing the desert into the US tonight. He has no work. He has no idea of how far it is or how deadly the desert is. He\u2019s wearing a thin jacket. His feet are bare inside his thin sneakers. Seeing one member of our group serving him a steaming hot bowl of soup, he smiles.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Someone notices the filthy bandages on his foot. Without a word, students kneel to wash and bandage his feet. They rub ointment and silently pray for his safety. They anoint this person, deemed to be the least in the kingdom, but whom God loves.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then Sam, a very big man, takes off his huge socks and hands them to him. Manuel&#8217;s eyes dance with joy as he pulls on Sam\u2019s socks. In the circle we pray and bless one another for the last time. He goes into the desert loved by Jesus and saved a bit from the cold by Sam\u2019s socks. In the silence that follows, we don\u2019t bother to debate the issue of illegal immigration or whether temporary work permits would solve the problem at the border. All we can see in our mind\u2019s eye are <strong>Sam\u2019s socks, white and worn and offered at the right time. <\/strong>We don\u2019t know if Manuel will make it into the US\u2026. We do know that <strong>whatever happens, his feet will be warm and that\u2019s as good as a dance in the world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Brightness and Clarity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There is some inexplicable connection between suffering and joy. One of the greatest graces of this existence is that we are able to experience joy in the midst of suffering. <strong>We might not be able to experience happiness. You can\u2019t in the midst of suffering, but there can be moments of great joy in the midst of the worst suffering. <\/strong>I take that to reveal that these two things are raveled up in ways that we don\u2019t understand, but which are essential to our existence.\u00a0<br>\u2014Christian Wiman,\u00a0<em>Everything Belongs<\/em>\u00a0podcast\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In conversation with CAC staff members Mike Petrow and Paul Swanson, Father Richard Rohr shares his deepening understanding of the relationship between tragedy, tears, and joy:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I keep being more and more convinced that <strong>tears are an appropriate response to realit<\/strong>y. I think they always will be, yet I don\u2019t equate that with modern depression or cynicism. It\u2019s the<em>\u00a0acceptance<\/em>\u00a0of what we cannot change that normally makes people cry: He\u2019s dead forever; I\u2019m never getting well; the church I love has never been perfect.<em>\u00a0<\/em>The part of us that can surrender to that reality is somehow bright. Remember, <strong>God is always present in reality\u00a0<em>as it is<\/em>, not merely as it should be. When we meet people who can smile in the presence of sadness, there\u2019s a brightness about them\u2014a clarity, a truth, and a freedom.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Mike Petrow shares wisdom from his spiritual director that he received during a time of deep grief:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She said, \u201cThe people I\u2019ve known, the great teachers, the <strong>great mystics who\u2019ve suffered and worked their way through it, find that the suffering carves a space out in your heart. In that wide open space, you can feel not only your pain but the pain of others and the pain of the world.\u201d<\/strong> You are quick to tears for the rest of your life. \u201cBut,\u201d she said, <strong>\u201cthat same space also holds joy. The people I know who\u2019ve really faced suffering and tragedy are the quickest to tears, but also the quickest to laughter, and the quickest to joy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Richard explores how facing the reality of our individual pain opens us to carrying the pain of others as well:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The act of <strong>solidarity somehow lessens the pain. We\u2019re able to say, \u201cI choose to carry it with you.\u201d It\u2019s really an alchemy. It lives differently in our hearts. We don\u2019t love it, but we have the grace to tolerate it. Not with resistance, but with\u00a0<em>yes<\/em>. That doesn\u2019t come in a moment. It comes with time and maturity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I experience this brightness as a new clarity. The light is illuminating it better. <strong>That\u2019s what sadness often offers us: a new clarity about the tragic sense of life. It\u2019s what Jesus had to accept on the cross\u2014the utterly tragic sense of life. It\u2019s not inappropriate\u2014it\u2019s clarifying, it\u2019s bright.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Learning from the Mystics:<br>Jesus of\u00a0Nazareth<\/span><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><a href=\"x-webdoc:\/\/3EA47C7A-83C0-4F3B-971B-DD2FA2D4D2BB\/johnchaffee.com\"><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Quote of the Week:<br><\/span><\/strong><em>&#8220;I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.\u00a0Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.\u00a0On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.&#8221; &#8211; John 14:18-20<\/em><br><br><strong><u>Reflection<\/u><\/strong>  It may seem odd to think of Jesus as a mystic, but <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">a mystic is actually\u00a0someone who experientially knows the deep mysteries of God. \u00a0A mystic is someone who bows in reverence to the mystery that is beyond human language and also seeks to dissolve all the us\/them, either\/or, subject\/object split.<\/span>\u00a0Ever since the Enlightenment, western minds have fallen into dualistic thinking even more so as a default. \u00a0One could also say that people are applauded for being able to articulate nuances and differences between one thing and another.\u00a0The\u00a0only problem is that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">everything is related, or in relationship with everything else, and Jesus sees reality in this way.<\/span>\u00a0Modern science is even recognizing the interrelationship of all things. \u00a0Nothing can exist without influencing or being influenced by other things.\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">There is nothing that is not already in relationship with everything else.\u00a0This includes you.<\/span> \u00a0Nothing can\u00a0separate you from the love of God. \u00a0Relationships with God will not be impeded, destroyed, or obstructed. \u00a0The love of God will not allow it in the end. \u00a0God will not leave us as orphans, as destitute, as without. \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">And this is how a mystic sees, not things in parts, but things in wholes. \u00a0Not things in\u00a0separateness, but things in relationship<\/span>. \u00a0Not as objects and subjects, but as subjects and subjects.\u00a0This mystery is also shown in Ephesians 1, that &#8220;all things will be gathered up under the headship of Christ.&#8221; \u00a0All things, in their wholeness, will be gathered up into the oneness of God. \u00a0(&#8220;Hear Oh Israel, the Lord our God is One.&#8221;) \u00a0Jesus was inviting us into this mystery from the start, the only problem is that we assume that the starting point is disconnection, and therefore the ending point is a possibility of disconnection as well.\u00a0However, Jesus\u00a0experientially knows the deep mystery of God that we are in Christ and Christ is in God and God is in us&#8230; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">if only we could wake up to the reality that all things are already related to God<\/span>.<br><br><strong>Prayer<br><\/strong><br>\u00a0<em>Lord, help us to remember that we are\u00a0never alone. \u00a0You will not leave us or forsake us. \u00a0You will not leave us as orphans. \u00a0Help us to\u00a0settle into the mystery that we are already in you and you are already in us, that all things are held together in you. \u00a0It is easy to forget, to dismiss, to distrust this reality so help us to have open eyes and open hearts to this mutual indwelling and live from that deep reality. \u00a0Amen.<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CAC faculty member Dr. Barbara Holmes highlights God\u2019s call to joy and partnership in all circumstances:&nbsp;&nbsp; We are born with an inner fire. I believe that this fire is the God within. It is an unquenchable, divine fire. It warms us, encourages us, and occasionally asks us to dance.\u00a0\u00a0 Suppose that at the entrance to [&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\/24252"}],"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=24252"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24258,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24252\/revisions\/24258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}