{"id":27008,"date":"2026-05-20T09:32:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T13:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27008"},"modified":"2026-05-20T10:49:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:49:40","slug":"27008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27008","title":{"rendered":"Inner Awareness and Acceptance"},"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=\"I Shall Not Want, by Audrey Assad (w\/ lyrics)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/12NMGC5YjYY?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<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Inner Awareness and Acceptance   <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Wednesday, May 20, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Richard Rohr describes authentic prayer and contemplation as a <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">mutual gaze of love:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Much of the<strong> early work<\/strong> of contemplation is discovering a way to observe ourselves from a compassionate and nonjudgmental distance until we can eventually live more and more of our lives from this calm inner awareness and acceptance. In a contemplative stance, <strong>we find ourselves smiling, sighing, and weeping at ourselves, much more than needing either to hate or to congratulate ourselves\u2014because we are finally looking at ourselves with the eyes of God.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In these moments, we are <strong>letting God gaze at us, in the way only God can gaze\u2014with infinite mercy, love, and compassion. God initiates a positive gaze, which now goes in both directions. <\/strong>(Unfortunately, we seldom allow that to happen.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we receive God\u2019s compassionate gaze in contemplation, <strong>all negative energy and motivation is slowly exposed and eventually falls away as counterproductive and useless.<\/strong> There will be no mistrust, fear, or negativity in either direction! If we resort to <strong>any form of shaming ourselves, we will slip back into defense, denial, and overcompensation<\/strong>. We will not be able to \u201cknow as fully as we are known\u201d (see 1 Corinthians 13:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if we can connect with the Indwelling Presence, where the \u201cSpirit bears common witness with our spirit\u201d (see Romans 8:16), it can and will change our lives! <strong>This mutually loving gaze is always initiated by God and grace. Once we learn to rest there, nothing less ever satisfies.<\/strong> This is foundational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To keep this space within ourselves open, we need some form of meditative practice\u2014something much more than \u201csaying\u201d prayers. Authentic prayer is invariably a <strong>matter of both emptying the mind and filling the heart, and often one follows the othe<\/strong>r. We have to <strong>move beyond recited, formulaic, and social prayers to bring the mind down into the heart.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So when you pray, try to stay beneath your thoughts, <strong>neither fighting them nor thinking them. <\/strong>Everything that comes also goes, usually in waves. <strong>Hold yourself at a more profound level, perhaps in your chest, solar plexus, or deep breath, but stay in your body-self somehow. Do not rise to the mind and its endlessly repetitive commentary.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just rest in what I like to call our&nbsp;<em><strong>animal contentm<\/strong>ent<\/em>. It will <strong>feel exactly like nothing, like emptiness. Stay crouched there at the cellular level, without shame or fear, long enough for the Deeper Source to reveal itself. Universal love flows through you from that Deeper Source as a vital energy much more than an idea.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>=======================<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>MAY 20, 2026<br><strong>Appearance Isn\u2019t Everything.   Skye Jethani<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>\u201cTake off your engineering hat and put on your management hat.\u201d <\/strong>That sentence became infamous after the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986. Here\u2019s the backstory. The night before the launch had been extremely cold, and NASA engineers warned that the freezing temperatures could have damaged the o-ring seals on the Shuttle\u2019s rocket boosters. They recommended postponing the launch.However, political and media pressure for the launch was intense. Not least because the Challenger crew included&nbsp;Christa McAuliffe, a public school teacher who was central to NASA\u2019s public-relations campaign. <br><br>This is why those calling for a delay because of safety concerns were told, \u201cTake off your engineering hat and put on your management hat.\u201d In other words, <strong>the space agency\u2019s public image was more important than an invisible and unlikely safety failure.<\/strong> The launch proceeded, and 73 seconds later, the Challenger exploded, killing all seven crew members.<br><br>The Challenger tragedy illustrates the <strong>danger of overvaluing public perception<\/strong>. The need to <strong>please an audience, to appear flawless, and to win the approval of others can lead us to downplay or ignore the less visible yet more critical aspects of our lives.<\/strong> When this posture is applied to our life with God, <strong>we can begin to think that&nbsp;<em>looking<\/em> righteous is more important than actually&nbsp;<em>being<\/em>&nbsp;righteous. <\/strong>This is the very definition of hypocrisy that Jesus addresses repeatedly in the Sermon on the Mount. <br><br>For example, in Jesus\u2019 culture, fasting was a mark of deep commitment to God. It was a holy practice for the truly devout. In a society where religiosity was rewarded, to be seen fasting gave a person greater status and prestige. That is why Jesus warned about the dangers of fasting in a way that catches others\u2019 attention.&nbsp;By the time of the Protestant Reformation, the same temptation existed.&nbsp;Martin Luther said fasting had become \u201ca device for having people look at them, talk about them, admire them, and say in astonishment: \u2018Oh, what wonderful saints these people are! They do not live like the other, ordinary people. They go around in gray coats, with their heads hanging down and sour, pale expressions on their faces. If such people do not get to heaven, what will become of the rest of us?\u2019\u201d<br><br>Today, I don\u2019t think most people seek approval through flaunting their fasting. In Christian communities, <strong>we have developed different ways of making ourselves appear more righteous than others, <\/strong>and we have new symbols to display our devotion to God. They vary in different churches and communities. In some, it\u2019s about displaying Jesus-branded merchandise, bumper stickers, home decor, or even tattoos. In others, it may be a yard sign, wristband, or laptop sticker that reveals your concern for a particular issue or cause. <strong>The details will differ, but the underlying temptation is the same. We want others to think well of us, our values, and our commitment to the things of God.<\/strong> But all of this focus on our external perception and acceptance can cause us to ignore the deeper truths that need our attention. In too many Christian communities, people are rewarded for taking off their spiritual formation hats and putting on their image management hats. Sadly, this is even the case among those who ought to know better\u2014the church leaders and Bible teachers. <strong>When this happens, we will both miss the deeper life of communion with God that Jesus calls us to, and we will minimize the warning signs of a personal or corporate catastrophe.<\/strong><br><br>DAILY SCRIPTURE<br><a href=\"https:\/\/withgoddaily.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=87188c8737bc50c1a2fb8e2c9&amp;id=a9424b3b09&amp;e=f52fc38132\">MATTHEW 6:16\u201318<br>1 THESSALONIANS 2:3\u20138<\/a><br><br>WEEKLY PRAYER Martin Luther (1483\u20131546)<br><br>O God, graciously comfort and tend all who are imprisoned, hungry, thirsty, naked and miserable;<br>also all widows, orphans, sick and sorrowing.<br>In brief, give us our daily bread, so that Christ may abide in us and we in him forever, and with him we may worthily bear the name of \u2018Christian.\u2019<br>Amen<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Individual Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What are you still wanting from the eyes of others that you haven&#8217;t yet let God&#8217;s gaze satisfy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Group Discussion \u2014 choose one:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where do you most feel the hunger to be esteemed, approved, or thought well of?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What fear \u2014 of being overlooked, rejected, or exposed \u2014 quietly shapes how you present yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What would shift in you if God&#8217;s gaze of mercy were finally enough?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inner Awareness and Acceptance Wednesday, May 20, 2026 Richard Rohr describes authentic prayer and contemplation as a mutual gaze of love: Much of the early work of contemplation is discovering a way to observe ourselves from a compassionate and nonjudgmental distance until we can eventually live more and more of our lives from this calm [&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\/27008"}],"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=27008"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27017,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27008\/revisions\/27017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}