{"id":27045,"date":"2026-05-27T10:25:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27045"},"modified":"2026-05-27T11:13:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:13:04","slug":"27045","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27045","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Spirit Is Always with Us<\/h3>\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=\"Background with Lyrics\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oIhVvW1cv10?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<p>Wednesday, May 27, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard envisions the Holy Spirit as the loving immensity of God\u2019s presence within us:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On one level, soul, consciousness, love, and the Holy Spirit can all be thought of as one and the same. Each of these points to something that is eternal, larger than the self, and shared with God<\/strong>. That\u2019s what Jesus means when he speaks of \u201cgiving\u201d us the Spirit or&nbsp;<em><strong>sharing his consciousness with us<\/strong><\/em>. One whose soul is thus awakened actually has \u201cthe mind of Christ\u201d (see 1 Corinthians 2:10\u201316). That does not mean the person is psychologically or morally perfect, but <strong>such a transformed person does see things in a much more expansive and compassionate way.<\/strong> St. Paul calls it \u201ca spiritual revolution of the mind\u201d (Ephesians 4:23)\u2014and it is!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus calls this implanted Spirit the \u201c<strong>Advocate,\u201d who is \u201cwith you and in you,\u201d makes you live with the same life that he lives, and unites you to everything else <\/strong>(John 14:16\u201320). He goes on to say that this \u201cSpirit of truth\u201d will \u201cteach you everything\u201d and \u201cremind you of all things\u201d (John 14:26) as if we already knew this somehow. Talk about being well-equipped from a secret Inner Source! It really is too good to believe\u2014so we didn\u2019t believe it. [1]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consciousness, the soul, love, the Holy Spirit, on both the individual and shared levels, have sadly become largely&nbsp;<em>unconscious<\/em>!&nbsp;No wonder some call the <strong>Holy Spirit the \u201cmissing person\u201d of the Blessed Trinity<\/strong>. No wonder <strong>we try to fill this&nbsp;<em>radical<\/em>&nbsp;<em>disconnectedness&nbsp;<\/em>through various addictions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is an Inner Reminder, an Inner&nbsp;<em>Rememberer<\/em>,&nbsp;(see John 14:26, 16:4) <strong>who holds together all the disparate and fragmented parts of our lives, fills in all the gaps, owns all the mistakes, forgives all the failures, and loves us into an ever-deeper life.<\/strong> This is the job description of the Holy Spirit, who is the spring that wells up within us (John 7:38\u201339)\u2014and unto eternal time. This is the breath that warms and renews everything (John 20:22). <strong>These are the eyes that see beyond the momentary shadow and disguise of things (John 9); these are the tears that wash and cleanse the past (Matthew 5:4). And better yet, they are not only&nbsp;<em>our&nbsp;<\/em>tears but are actually the very presence and consolation of God within us <\/strong>(2 Corinthians 1:3\u20135).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You must contact this Immensity! You must look back at your life from the place of this Immensity. You must know that this Immensity is already within you. <strong>The only thing separating you from such Immensity is the ego\u2019s unwillingness to trust such an utterly free grace, such a completely unmerited gift.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>=====================<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Interview  with  our friend,  Brad Jersak<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Q&amp;A: On Surrender \/ Letting Go<\/em>  <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I was recently interviewed for a forthcoming book for which some of my responses may be selected and distilled into a larger collection. But for now, I\u2019d like to share my raw responses word-for-word.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/c014d241-db0d-4f07-ad01-5a0cfde5c150?j=eyJ1IjoiMmRrajIifQ.ND0qR5RKsmVnltuWgIlyr3BY7uwq2Kt9ZzX29UJK4cg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!IpNf!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcebd38f5-2427-4c51-82e3-71f0a362e1ac_1400x738.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q1.&nbsp;<em>How would you define surrender? Who or what is one surrendering to, in your opinion? God, Universe, Self, Soul, present moment&#8230;?<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Surrender has been a key word in my spiritual vocabulary for decades and as a result, has become layered. My definition is drawn from my experiences in prayer, from the influence of Simone Weil in my life, my interactions in spiritual direction, and from the twelve-step recovery movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I typically <strong>define surrender as&nbsp;<em>\u201cletting go,<\/em><\/strong><em>\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<strong>which applies to how I try to let go of control (self-will), of agendas, of \u201cmy will be done<\/strong>.\u201d In recovery language<em>, I make a decision to surrender my life and will to the care (not the control) of a loving God.<\/em>&nbsp;In Weil\u2019s terms, I&nbsp;<strong><em>consent&nbsp;<\/em>to the divine will as Christ did in Gethsemane<\/strong>. <strong>In prayer, I actually picture standing or kneeling before Christ and offering him whatever he asks for\u2014releasing attitudes, emotions, intentions, worries, resentments, regrets, etc., over to him. Most of all, I surrender people. Those I\u2019ve harmed, those who\u2019ve harmed me, those I love most, worry about most, obsess over most. I picture delivering them into the hands or arms of God. I picture him taking responsibility for their care or correction or healing because it\u2019s too much for me. I am no one\u2019s saviour.<\/strong>&nbsp;<br><br>This is how I process my anxieties when I lay awake thinking about my children or grandchildren. It\u2019s how I process forgiveness for those who my resentments chain me to. It\u2019s how I deal with my own self-pity, self-loathing, and self-centeredness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I also think about surrender in terms of acceptance. Dr. Walter Thiessen calls this \u201c<strong>compassionate consent to reality.\u201d Surrender here is connected to the distinction in the Serenity Prayer between accepting what I cannot change versus the courage to change what I can (including my reorientation back toward love and life).&nbsp;<\/strong><br><br>An elderly sage once said to me,&nbsp;<em>\u201cYour biggest struggle is that you struggle,\u201d<\/em>or in the kind rebuke of one massage therapist,&nbsp;<em>\u201cStop fighting me!\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;My wife tells me that in her contractions through labour, she learned how&nbsp;<em>even in pushing, she could<\/em>&nbsp;<em>surf the pain<\/em>&nbsp;rather than fighting against it. All these analogies are a kind of surrender, so<strong> we might also say&nbsp;<em>\u201crolling with\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;along with&nbsp;<em>\u201cletting go.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>That is, we learn to take life on life\u2019s terms.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>Q2.<em>&nbsp;Is there a practice to surrender that does not cause more suffering?<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve already suggested one method in terms of a visual exercise of handing over. Along those lines, I also use other pictures when I need to be most gentle with myself. <strong>Sometimes, I simply enter a state where I lay my head on Jesus\u2019 lap and gaze into a small campfire in front of us. Silent surrender. At other times, when there\u2019s a lot of grief, I kneel beside him in Gethsemane. This helps me because I sync up with Jesus\u2019 own experience and notice that he doesn\u2019t get stuck. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">His surrender leads mine from grief to comfort to hope<\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But when I\u2019m on the verge of a panic attack, <strong>I resort to pre-established prayers that begin on their own in my heart\u2026&nbsp;<em>the Jesus Prayer<\/em>&nbsp;(\u201cLord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me\u201d) or&nbsp;<em>the Serenity Prayer<\/em>\u2014either of which I use in conjunction with deep breathing, where the surrender is expressed as an exhale or a sigh.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also do surrender work<strong> in the presence of non-judgmental listening with a spiritual director, a sponsor, or my godfather. I confess all that causes me anxiety (not just my sins) in a kind of surrender where I unpack and offload my most authentic feelings with a safe person who is not inclined to fix or rescue, but can sit with me as a peace-centered companion.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q3.&nbsp;<em>What happens when you surrender?<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Any range of outcomes can happen when I surrender, but <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>I\u2019ve learned not to attach myself to outcomes\u2014which is itself another important layer of surrende<\/strong><\/span>r. Let\u2019s not overlook that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I surrender, I may <strong>feel a great burden lift from my shoulders, or the easing of my queasy stomach, or a blessed stillness settles in.<\/strong> These can be quite visceral since body and soul are so connected. I may feel the well-being of realizing it will be okay or I will be okay, no matter what. I can then resist the demands of the ego to take over (control) or take back (what I let go)\u2014to cling or to grasp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think about these practices and their results a lot precisely because I need to. <strong>Today, I need to let go again. Another disappointment, another burden\u2026 I\u2019m a chronic worrier and I\u2019ve even had to surrender the delusion that I\u2019ll overcome that. I regress. I relapse. But I see a path, and for this moment, open my hands once again.<\/strong><br><br><strong>Q4.&nbsp;<\/strong><em><strong>What is the ego or mind? What\u2019s holding on?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEgo\u201d is a tricky term because it gets defined in a variety of ways. It\u2019s literally just the Greek word for \u201cI.\u201d At one time, I spoke in terms of \u201cthe death of the ego.\u201d But I was corrected by those who reminded me that ego is essential for a sense of self (or even&nbsp;<em>is&nbsp;<\/em>our sense of self). As tiny children, we gradually begin to differentiate from others and form our own sense of \u201cme\u201d as object, then \u201cI\u201d as subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Further, therapists tell me that many of their clients need their ego to be strengthened, especially in order to escape the demoralizing imprisonment of domestic abuse. So we should never tell a battered partner to crucify their ego!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, when we use the word&nbsp;<em>ego<\/em>&nbsp;negatively, <strong>what we typically mean is&nbsp;<em>egoism\u2014<\/em>the enthronement of the ego in self-will, self-centredness, self-importance. When ego is king, I don\u2019t surrender. I don\u2019t follow the wisdom of my higher power. I don\u2019t live in the Jesus Way of self-giving, others-centered love. \u201cI\u201d becomes Lord.<\/strong> It may even develop an insidious, bullying voice increasingly devoid of conscience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a previous post, I mentioned pesky voices that, for me, include <strong>self-pity, self-loathing, and self-centeredness.<\/strong> In some models, these self-voices are all variations of the ego that, when disordered, share an incorrigible resistance to surrender\u2014to letting go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But when Jesus said,&nbsp;<em>\u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;we might paraphrase that,&nbsp;<em><strong>\u201cBlessed are those who\u2019ve learned to say no to the demands of the ego<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>or&nbsp;<em>\u201cBlessed are those who\u2019ve bankrupted the ego\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>[Ron S. Dart]. In that sense, <strong>ego can be shorthand for willfulness and surrender is willingness<\/strong>. But again, beware of how you process this with those who\u2019ve been belittled. If they have internalized the voice of an oppressor, the \u201csurrender\u201d message may be a form of gaslighting. Someone more qualified than me can help distinguish whether the ego-voice is reinforcing the bully\u2019s control or helping us resist it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Q5.&nbsp;<\/strong><em><strong>Is there a practice\/methodology you follow that would create surrender?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For me,<strong> it\u2019s more of a recognition that self-will has not worked. <\/strong>\u201cI admitted that I was powerless [in my own strength] over my addiction\/circumstances\/crazy thoughts\/self-destructive and others-harming behaviors, and that my life had become unmanageable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cBottoming out\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">does not mean you go as low as you can go. It describes any point <\/span>at which (1) you admit that self-will is not working , (2) you come to believe only Someone greater than yourself is able to restore your sanity, and (3) you decide to surrender to the care of that Someone. \u201cBottoming out\u201d is a grace\u2014a spiritual awakening that leads to a daily reprieve.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I didn\u2019t wake myself up. I needed God to wake me up. I didn\u2019t create surrender\u2026 I suppose life did that, or grace, or both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are also times when advising someone to \u201clet go\u201d can be harmful. A friend of mine had a stillbirth child seven months through her pregnancy. To feel the child stop moving but carry it through to delivery was traumatic. Worse, she discovered that the medical staff had discarded the tiny body rather than allowing a burial. My friend retreated for recovery outside the city and connected with some caring Buddhist women for comfort. But when they began saying, \u201cIt\u2019s okay. Just let go. The baby\u2019s soul has left and will find its way to a new reincarnation,\u201d she tells me that she erupted in rage. \u201cLet go\u201d was not the message she needed. Better to sit in silent pain with her until she discovered for herself what s<strong>he needed&#8230; Instead of \u201cletting go\u201d of the pain, she says she needed to face it head on, enter it, and she there she discovered she could create something beautiful with it.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea was not to get rid of the grief\u2014she couldn\u2019t\u2014but she was able to use everything at her disposal to weave something beautiful. Even there, I would caution against co-opting her words as new platitudes but instead,<strong> learn how to companion people through affliction until they emerge on the beautiful side of grie<\/strong>f.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>====================<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Individual Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where in your life right now are you still running the show \u2014 and what would it feel like to actually step back?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Group Discussion \u2014 choose one<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Jersak describes surrender as an exhale, an open hand, a laying of the head \u2014 what&#8217;s your body&#8217;s experience of it?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rohr says the Immensity is already within you; what makes that so hard to believe?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jersak says &#8220;I regress, I relapse, but I see a path&#8221; \u2014 what keeps you returning to the path?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Spirit Is Always with Us Wednesday, May 27, 2026 Father Richard envisions the Holy Spirit as the loving immensity of God\u2019s presence within us: On one level, soul, consciousness, love, and the Holy Spirit can all be thought of as one and the same. Each of these points to something that is eternal, larger [&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\/27045"}],"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=27045"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27053,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27045\/revisions\/27053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}