{"id":23311,"date":"2024-01-19T10:37:50","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T15:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=23311"},"modified":"2024-01-19T10:48:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T15:48:03","slug":"living-the-contradictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=23311","title":{"rendered":"Living the Contradictions"},"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=\"Mystery by Kathryn Marquis worship song with lyrics (Music + Christian)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5v1l-IoVnLM?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<p><em>Father Richard explains how living with paradox can open us to experience the mystery of God:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question we must ask ourselves is, <strong>\u201cHow do we\u00a0<em>live\u00a0<\/em>the contradictions?\u201d\u00a0<em>Live them\u2014<\/em>not just endure them or relieve ourselves from the tension by quickly resolving them. The times when we meet or reckon with our contradictions are often turning points, opportunities to enter into the deeper mystery of God. <\/strong>I\u2019m deliberately using the word\u00a0<em>mystery\u00a0<\/em>to point to depth, an open future, immense freedom, a kind of beauty and truth that cannot be fully spoken or defined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many mystics speak of the God-experience as simultaneously falling into an abyss and being grounded. This sounds like a contradiction, <strong>but when we allow ourselves to fall into the abyss\u2014into hiddenness, limitlessness, unknowability, a void without boundaries\u2014we discover it\u2019s somehow a rich, supportive, embracing spaciousness where we don\u2019t have to ask (or answer) the questions of whether we\u2019re right or wrong. We\u2019re being held and so do not need to try to \u201chold\u201d ourselves together. Please reflect on that.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This might be the ultimate paradox of the God-experience: \u201cfalling into the hands of the living God\u201d (Hebrews 10:31). <strong>When we can give ourselves to it and not fight it or explain it, falling into the abyss is ironically an experience of ground, of the rock, of the foundation<\/strong>. This is totally counterintuitive. Our dualistic, logical mind can\u2019t get us there. It can only be known experientially. <strong>That\u2019s why the mystics use magnificent metaphors\u2014none of them adequate or perfect\u2014for this experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mystery is not something we\u00a0<em>can\u2019t\u00a0<\/em>know. <strong>Mystery is\u00a0<em>endless knowability\u00a0<\/em>on many different levels. Living inside such endless knowability is finally a comfort, a foundation of ultimate support, security, unrestricted love, and eternal care.<\/strong> It usually takes much of our life to get there; it\u2019s surely what we mean by \u201cgrowing\u201d in faith. <strong>Each soul must learn on its own, hopefully aided by observing other faith-filled people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T<strong>he source of spiritual wisdom is to hold questions and contradictions patiently, much more than to find quick certitudes, to rush to closure or judgment as the ego and dualistic mind want to do. The ego wants to know it is right. It wants to stand on its own self-created \u201csolid\u201d ground\u2014not the mysterious solid ground of the abyss. This is why so much religion remains immature and is often a hiding place for people who want to be in control instead of people trained in giving up control to a Loving Presence.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A mature friend or a good spiritual director will companion us as we learn how to negotiate the darkness, how to wait it out, how to hold on, how to live in liminal or threshold space. The dualistic mind just doesn\u2019t know how to do that. <strong>The dualistic mind cannot deal with paradox, but the nondual mind can. In fact, it almost relishes and revels in mystery. Nondual consciousness is at home inside of the abyss.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>_______________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;God is at home, it is we who have gone out for a walk.<\/strong><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=10kpQ&amp;m=i.VmejuoQP0RJVk&amp;b=3VC.cKiNhQUjiE_36ShbpQ\"><strong>Meister Eckhart, 13th Century German Preacher<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What do you think this quote means?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;We do not preach great things; we live them.<\/strong><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>North African Christian Saying from the 3rd Century AD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What we do is more important than what we say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;&#8216;[Josiah] defended the cause of the poor and the needy, and so all went well.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is that not what it means to know me?&#8217; Declares the Lord.<\/strong><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=10kpQ&amp;m=i.VmejuoQP0RJVk&amp;b=p_ay_uhos2uv1tKbnk0wGw\"><strong>Jeremiah 22:16<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, I am halfway through&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=10kpQ&amp;m=i.VmejuoQP0RJVk&amp;b=.IVMsNMUckR4Vm3FoVKDsw\">Walter Brueggemann&#8217;s Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography by Conrad Kanagy<\/a>. &nbsp;It is amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just before Covid hit the world, I began reading Brueggemann&#8217;s work and found it to be incredibly timely. &nbsp;There are many people for whom the Prophets only pointed to Jesus, which is a massive disservice to the Prophets as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Nevi&#8217;im (Prophets) existed because they were called by God to rail against and to hold accountable the religious and political leaders of their day for having lost the plot, for having accepted bribes, for failing to implement true justice, and for being more oppressors with their power rather than liberators.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brueggemann is a biblical scholar with his emphasis being on the book of Jeremiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the biography, Jeremiah 22:16 caused a radical shift within Brueggemann to realize that &#8220;the cause of the poor and the needy&#8221; IS the knowledge of God, not a cause or an effect, it IS the knowledge of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;To hope for all souls is imperative; and it is quite tenable that their salvation is inevitable.<\/strong><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=10kpQ&amp;m=i.VmejuoQP0RJVk&amp;b=YVW8vYztsV5YPRVd06Iidg\"><strong>G.K. Chesterton, British Catholic Author<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It has been a long time since I divorced myself from the version of Christianity that has a morbid fascination with Hell and damnation. &nbsp;In all honesty, being raised Lutheran, they were never really a part of my framework or understanding&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over time, though, I came across figures who I looked up to from church history who also disbelieved that the unconditional love and grace of God would damn anyone eternally. &nbsp;<strong>Figures such as GK Chesterton, Soren Kierkegaard, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor, George MacDonald, and so many others.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>After stumbling across these figures, I chose to go back to the original languages of the Old and New Testaments and was pleasantly surprised by what I found&#8230; &nbsp;whole passages talking about the&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=10kpQ&amp;m=i.VmejuoQP0RJVk&amp;b=eRza2Z3WpZnD2IIoIM.VhQ\"><strong>restoration<\/strong><\/a><strong>,&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=10kpQ&amp;m=i.VmejuoQP0RJVk&amp;b=5HejFsVO55t_WBha7EoEGQ\"><strong>reconciliation<\/strong><\/a><strong>, and&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=10kpQ&amp;m=i.VmejuoQP0RJVk&amp;b=41kCcqVq2zqz3VsrSSQ6pQ\"><strong>renewal<\/strong><\/a><strong>&nbsp;of ALL.<\/strong><br><br>I believe it&#8217;s in there, folks, we were simply told not to find it in the English translations that already downplay it. &nbsp;The Good News is good for ALL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Father Richard explains how living with paradox can open us to experience the mystery of God: The question we must ask ourselves is, \u201cHow do we\u00a0live\u00a0the contradictions?\u201d\u00a0Live them\u2014not just endure them or relieve ourselves from the tension by quickly resolving them. The times when we meet or reckon with our contradictions are often turning points, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23311"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23314,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23311\/revisions\/23314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}