{"id":26239,"date":"2025-12-17T08:09:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T13:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=26239"},"modified":"2025-12-17T08:37:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T13:37:16","slug":"26239","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=26239","title":{"rendered":"Contemplation and Awe"},"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=\"Beautiful Things - Gungor - Lyric Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q3d3sfABZBM?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<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>God is the wisdom of every lifetime, a deep plunge into a clear pool, the sinew and muscle of ethical responsibility, a community of goodness, but always more. Descriptions reach out as far as they can toward the God of the universe, and then, like a rubber band stretched too far, they snap back and we are left with the silence of mystery and awe.<br>\u2014Barbara Holmes,&nbsp;<em>Liberation and the Cosmos<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard considers how contemplative practice deepens our capacity to experience awe and wonder:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Moments of awe and wonder are the only solid foundation for the entire religious instinct and journey<\/strong>. Look, for example, at the Exodus narrative: It all begins with a murderer (Moses) on the run from the law, encountering a paradoxical bush that \u201cburns without being consumed.\u201d Struck by awe, Moses takes off his shoes and the very earth beneath his feet becomes \u201choly ground\u201d (see Exodus 3:2\u20136) because he has met \u201cBeing Itself\u201d (Exodus 3:14). This narrative reveals the classic pattern, repeated in different forms in the varied lives and vocabulary of all the world\u2019s mystics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re usually blocked against being awestruck, just as we are blocked against great love and great suffering. Early-stage contemplation is largely about identifying and releasing ourselves from these blockages by recognizing&nbsp;<em>the unconscious reservoir of&nbsp;expectations, assumptions, and beliefs in which we are already immersed.&nbsp;<\/em>\u202f<strong>If we don\u2019t see what\u2019s in our reservoir, we will process all new encounters and experiences in the same old-patterned way\u2014and nothing new will ever happen.<\/strong> <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">A new idea held by the old self is never really a new idea, whereas even an old idea held by a new self will soon become fresh and refreshing<\/span><\/strong>. <strong>Contemplation fills our reservoir with clear, clean water that allows us to encounter experience free of our old patterns.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s the mistake we all make in our encounters with reality\u2014both good and bad. We don\u2019t realize that it wasn\u2019t the person or event right in front of us that made us angry or fearful\u2014or excited and energized. At best, that is only partly true. If we allowed a beautiful hot air balloon in the sky to make us happy, it was because we were already predisposed to happiness. The hot air balloon just occasioned it.<em>&nbsp;<\/em><strong><em>How&nbsp;<\/em>we see will largely determine&nbsp;<em>what&nbsp;<\/em>we see and whether it gives us joy or makes us pull back with an emotionally stingy and resistant response.<\/strong> Without denying an objective outer reality,&nbsp;<em><strong>what we are able to see and are predisposed to see in the outer world is a mirror&nbsp;reflection of our own inner world and state of consciousness at that time<\/strong><\/em>. Most of the time, we just do not see at all but rather operate on cruise control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It seems that we <strong>humans are two-way mirrors, reflecting both inner and outer world<\/strong>s. We project ourselves onto outer things and these very things also reflect back to us&nbsp;<em>our own<\/em>&nbsp;<em>unfolding identity<\/em>. <strong>Mirroring is the way that contemplatives see, subject to subject rather than subject to object.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>=========================<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>DEC 17, 2025.  Skye Jethani<br><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">How Big is God\u2019s Mission?<\/span><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"auto\" height=\"15\" src=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/87188c8737bc50c1a2fb8e2c9\/images\/b66516eb-1f2d-8d90-0e02-d4223f78f6f7.png\">\u201cI want what breaks God\u2019s heart to break my heart.\u201d You\u2019ve probably heard this well-intentioned cliche in your religious community. It\u2019s a sincere way of expressing a desire to be more like Christ, and that should be affirmed. But have you ever asked, \u201cWhat&nbsp;<em>doesn\u2019t<\/em>&nbsp;break God\u2019s heart?\u201d Is there a degree of pain, suffering, or injustice that doesn\u2019t rise to our Lord\u2019s attention? Are there broken things in this world over which the Creator does&nbsp;<em>not<\/em>&nbsp;grieve? The impulse to label certain things as \u201cbreaking God\u2019s heart\u201d implies a category of things beyond his concern. That doesn\u2019t sound like the one Jesus said counts every hair on our head and notices every sparrow that falls to the ground (Matthew 10:29-30).<br><br>Still, the instinct to prioritize is a part of every religion. It\u2019s a way of ordering the world into what matters and what does not, and then validating those who focus on the \u201cright\u201d things. It\u2019s why so many churches, whether explicitly or implicitly, function with a bifurcated and disintegrated vision of the world. They instinctually <strong>label certain things and activities as \u201csacred\u201d and therefore within the scope of God\u2019s concern, and a far larger group of things and activities as \u201csecular\u201d which exist beyond God\u2019s care if not his sight.<\/strong> Sadly, this tendency has severely reduced our understanding of what Jesus accomplished on the cross and the scope of his redemption.The New Testament <strong>repeatedly emphasizes the cosmic scale of Jesus\u2019 sacrifice. Paul said through the cross, God has \u201creconciled to himself&nbsp;<em>all things<\/em>, whether on earth or in heaven<\/strong>\u201d (Colossians 1:20). <br><br>And in his most extensive articulation of the gospel (found in 1 Corinthians 15), the Apostle reiterates <strong>Jesus\u2019 intent to rule over \u201call things\u201d no less than&nbsp;<em>eight times!<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;The cosmic scope of Paul\u2019s gospel fits with the Jewish vision of God he inherited from the Hebrew scriptures, which declare, \u201cIn the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth\u201d (Genesis 1:1). The next verse does not say God then retired into full-time ministry.And yet, that is how many of us function. We assume that God cares about redeeming souls but not bodies. We think he wants a thriving church but cares nothing about a flourishing school. We believe God wants the gospel preached, but is indifferent to whether a hospital is built. <br><br>When the church narrowly defines \u201cwhat breaks God\u2019s heart,\u201d it ends up producing narrow disciples who do not recognize the reign of Christ over every part of their lives and every atom of creation.This error,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/withgoddaily.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=87188c8737bc50c1a2fb8e2c9&amp;id=7e3ad56d78&amp;e=f52fc38132\">according to Ed Stetzer<\/a>, was on display on January 6, 2021, when thousands of rioters\u2014many displaying Christian symbols\u2014violently attacked the U.S. Capitol. Writing about American evangelicalism\u2019s complicity in what unfolded, Stetzer, an evangelical pastor himself, said: \u201cCommitted to reaching the world, the evangelical movement has emphasized the evangelistic and pietistic elements of the mission. However, it has failed to connect this mission to justice and politics. The result of this discipleship failure has led us to a place where not only our people, but many of our leaders, were easily fooled and co-opted by a movement that ended with the storming of the Capitol building.\u201d<br><br>In other words, the problem is not that the church failed to accomplish its mission, but that <strong>it&nbsp;<em>defined<\/em>&nbsp;it too narrowly. When huge parts of our lives and world are seen as beyond Christ\u2019s concern, we shouldn\u2019t be surprised to discover false gods defiling those domains<\/strong>.<br><br>DAILY SCRIPTURE<br><a href=\"https:\/\/withgoddaily.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=87188c8737bc50c1a2fb8e2c9&amp;id=fcb75b2b8c&amp;e=f52fc38132\">1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-28<br>COLOSSIANS 1:15-20<\/a><br><br>WEEKLY PRAYER.   From Mother Teresa (1910 &#8211; 1998)<br>Dear Jesus,<br>Help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your Spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us and be so in us that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus. Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be light to others.<br>Amen.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>God is the wisdom of every lifetime, a deep plunge into a clear pool, the sinew and muscle of ethical responsibility, a community of goodness, but always more. Descriptions reach out as far as they can toward the God of the universe, and then, like a rubber band stretched too far, they snap back and [&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\/26239"}],"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=26239"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26244,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26239\/revisions\/26244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}