{"id":23596,"date":"2024-04-08T10:32:45","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T14:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=23596"},"modified":"2024-04-08T11:02:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T15:02:30","slug":"23596","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=23596","title":{"rendered":"A Moment of Divine Fire"},"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=\"Heart On Fire - Citipointe Worship (Lyric video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p_G9tSbKnog?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<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=\"James Finley on Radical Resilience (2024) \u2014 Richard Rohr&#039;s Daily Meditations\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Il9c4fyprcM?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><a href=\"https:\/\/email.cac.org\/t\/d-l-ewhtld-tlkrdrec-r\/\">In this video<\/a>, CAC teacher James Finley reflects upon the theme of \u201ctending the fire within\u201d as a way to build capacity for radical resilience.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m using the word \u201cfire\u201d as a metaphor for certain moments in our life where we\u2019re graced with a heightened sense of communal presence. They have about them the feeling of that-which-never-ends.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In our day-by-day life, most of the things we\u2019re aware of, we\u2019re aware of them while we\u2019re passing by on our way to something else. But every so often, something catches our eye and gives us reason to pause. For example, we pause to see a tree. We\u2019ve seen many trees before, we\u2019re going to see many more, and it\u2019s just a tree. But there\u2019s a certain moment where we\u2019re called to pause and ponder and be present to the tree. In that pausing, we experience ourselves undergoing a kind of a descent. It\u2019s very subtle\u2014a deeper, more interior dimension of the mystery of our own presence\u2026.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have the sense that in this deepening communal oneness with the tree, we\u2019re dropping down together into an abyss-like depth that\u2019s welling up and giving itself to us unexplainably as this moment of oneness with the tree. This depth of presence has no name, but we give it a name. In our tradition, it\u2019s God.<strong> We experience the generosity of God, welling up and giving the infinity of God away as the mystery of this moment. We are being awakened to the divinity of the tree and ourselves and our communal, shared nothingness without God. There\u2019s a sense of sacredness about this. This is the fire we want to attend to.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We could make the same observation about every foundational dimension of our life: intimacy with another person, being in the presence of a child, a path of long-suffering patience, a moment of prayer, the quiet hour at day\u2019s end, lying awake at night in the dark. <strong>From time to time the divine grants itself with this kind of fire, a quiet luminosity that has great depth and intimacy to it.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These moments are quite intense sometimes, in the aftermath of which something is never quite the same. But usually it\u2019s not that way at all. Such moments are <strong>so subtle that if we aren\u2019t careful, we would miss them<\/strong>. They also tend to be very fleeting. We return to day-by-day life, go off to our next meeting, turn the TV up a little louder, or whatever it is we\u2019re doing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if we\u2019re <strong>committed to a contemplative stance, little by little we start to see our day-by-day life from the standpoint of these moments of awakening<\/strong>. We notice that they have about them the feeling of effulgence or fullness or homecoming. In the light of those moments, we get this sense that in the momentum of the day\u2019s demands, we\u2019re <strong>skimming over the depths of our own life. We\u2019re suffering from depth deprivation. What\u2019s regrettable is that God\u2019s unexplainable oneness with us is hidden in the depths over which we\u2019re skimming.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choosing a Contemplative Path<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>James Finley continues to reflect on how, once we notice the \u201cfire within,\u201d we can commit to the life-changing practice of attending to it.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once we acknowledge this <strong>\u201cdepth deprivation,\u201d we get an insight into life.<\/strong> The <strong>essential, that which is given to us in the metaphorical fire of this quiet oneness, never imposes itself on us, while the unessential is constantly imposing itself on us. <\/strong>We begin to wonder, \u201c<strong>How can I learn not to get so caught up in the complexities of the day-to-day that I keep losing my sense of connectedness with this depth, this fire, which alone is ultimately real?\u201d Thomas Merton says it beats in our very blood whether we want it to or not.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It <strong>doesn\u2019t lie in our power to make these insights happen, <\/strong>but here\u2019s the key. <strong>We can freely choose to assume the stance that offers the least resistance to being overtaken by the fire that we cannot make happen.<\/strong> This is our daily rendezvous, and the key is that it\u2019s personal. <strong>We have to find those acts, those persons, those modes of service, those moments of creative unfolding, those moments where we feel something is being asked of us\u2026.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I was in the monastery, the whole monastic life was carefully designed to protect us from distractions and enable us to experience what I\u2019m talking about. But the world we live in isn\u2019t like that, so we have to create a&nbsp;<em>contemplative culture<\/em>&nbsp;in our heart. We must vow to ourselves: I will not play the cynic. I will not break faith with my awakened heart. I know that in my most childlike hour, the cutting edge of the pain, the sweetness of the glance, the smell of the flower, I was graced by what transcends and permeates every moment of my life.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, we want to set aside a quiet time of availability to this. We have to stay with it. We have to be patient and be calm. We have to be receptively open to this way of being. And at the end of each rendezvous with the deeper place, we ask for the grace not to break the thread of that sensitivity as we go through the rest of our day. Although the thread breaks many times from our end, it never breaks from God\u2019s end\u2026.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We don\u2019t live in a monastery but out here in the world, and I think that\u2019s what contemplative programs like the Living School are about. I think it\u2019s what the Daily Meditations are about. It\u2019s what centering prayer is about. We have to look for the thread of sensitivity to such insights and decide that we\u2019re going to live this way. It\u2019s a kind of obediential fidelity that nobody can see but it matters more than everything. We try to live out of it with integrity with people because it changes the way we see everybody. Everyone\u2019s an infinitely loved, broken person in a fleeting, often not-so-fair, gorgeous, lovely, unexplainable world.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Naaman\u2019s Dilemma and Ours<\/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\">The Lord had given the Israelites extensive instructions about the proper way to honor, worship, and obey him. In fact, the entire structure of Israelite culture and law was shaped by their covenant with YHWH, and foreigners from pagan lands were invited to join them in this way of life. But after giving his allegiance to YHWH alone, Naaman was not able to say in Israel. He was returning to Syria where he would be immersed in a pagan society where no one shared his devotion to Israel\u2019s God.This is a dilemma worth exploring because it\u2019s <strong>not unlike our situation as followers of Jesus in an increasingly post-Christian, post-religious culture.<\/strong> How do we navigate giving our total allegiance to Jesus Christ while living among, working with, and serving neighbors who do not share our faith, and very often celebrate values and behaviors directly opposed by Christian doctrine?First, we must recognize that Naaman\u2019s devotion to Israel\u2019s God was real. He even asked to take dirt from Israel back to Syria in order to build a proper altar to YHWH. But the Lord had given no instructions about how to properly worship and honor him in any context outside of Israel, and certainly not in a foreign land devoted to idols and pagan gods. Naaman feared the sincerity of his vow would be questioned, and his worship of the Lord rejected, because of his obligations to his non-Israelite neighbors and king. Therefore, Naaman explained his dilemma to Elisha and asked for understanding.Naaman said, \u201cWhen my master [Syria\u2019s king] enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also\u2014when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.\u201dBiblical scholars don\u2019t all agree on the exact meaning of the phrase \u201cleaning on my arm.\u201d Some argue the king of Syria was old and weak, and he would literally lean on Naaman\u2019s arm in order to bow in worship. In this interpretation, Naaman would have no active role in the worship of a pagan god. He was just physically helping an old man kneel. Others say \u201cleaning on my arm\u201d is an idiom meaning Naaman was the king\u2019s right-hand man. In this case, as a top-ranking government official, Naaman would have a role in official state functions\u2014including the honoring of Syria\u2019s gods alongside the king.In either case, Naaman was telling Elisha that when he returned to Syria his presence in the temple of a pagan god would be required, and in some way\u2014either passively or actively\u2014he would be assisting others in their worship of a god other than YHWH. Despite how this may appear, he wanted to assure Elisha that his actions should not be misunderstood as his own act of worship, because Naaman\u2019s loyalty belonged to Israel\u2019s God. In response, <strong>Elisha gave a simple, stunning reply: \u201cGo in peace.\u201d<\/strong>It\u2019s difficult to imagine Elisha giving such a pardon to an Israelite, or even to a convert like Naaman who remained in Israel. God\u2019s law was abundantly clear\u2014idolatry and the worship of other gods was absolutely forbidden. According to God\u2019s covenant, there was no reason for a pagan temple to ever exist anywhere in Israel, let alone for an Israelite to enter it and assist others in their worship. Therefore, for someone to request a pardon like Naaman does would have been absurd. And yet Elisha grants it anyway.Naaman represented an unprecedented case; a situation that the Torah never addressed or imagined\u2014a foreigner, living in an unholy land, devoted to the worship of Israel\u2019s God. Elisha\u2019s blessing of Naaman\u2019s request is a reminder that the Old Testament law, although God-given, good, and full of wisdom, <strong>is not comprehensive and does not anticipate every possible scenario. It speaks about how to organize an ancient, theocratic community where everyone is devoted to the Lord, and not to a modern, pluralistic community where very few are committed to God\u2019s ways.<\/strong>In the coming days, we\u2019ll look more closely at Naaman\u2019s request, and what wisdom it may offer for how we may both give our full allegiance to Jesus Christ while loving and serving our neighbors who do not.<br><br>DAILY SCRIPTURE<br><br><a href=\"https:\/\/withgoddaily.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=87188c8737bc50c1a2fb8e2c9&amp;id=d233da73a5&amp;e=f52fc38132\">JOHN 17:13-19&nbsp;<br>2 KINGS 5:1-27<\/a><br><br>WEEKLY PRAYER    from Thomas Aquinas (1225 -1275)<br><br>Give us, O Lord, a <strong>steadfast heart<\/strong>, which no selfish desires may drag downwards;<br>give us an <strong>unconquered heart<\/strong>, which no troubles can wear out;<br>give us an <strong>upright heart<\/strong>, which no unworthy ambitions may tempt aside.<br>Give us also, O Lord our God, <strong>understanding to know you, perseverance to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you;<\/strong><br>through Jesus Christ our Lord.<br>Amen.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this video, CAC teacher James Finley reflects upon the theme of \u201ctending the fire within\u201d as a way to build capacity for radical resilience.&nbsp;&nbsp; I\u2019m using the word \u201cfire\u201d as a metaphor for certain moments in our life where we\u2019re graced with a heightened sense of communal presence. They have about them the feeling [&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":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23596"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23596"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23600,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23596\/revisions\/23600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}