{"id":27553,"date":"2026-09-03T10:13:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T14:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27553"},"modified":"2026-09-03T10:13:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T14:13:35","slug":"becoming-disciples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27553","title":{"rendered":"Becoming Disciples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Lennon - Watching The Wheels (Lyrics) \ud83c\udfb5\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HS5SdnrqZvs?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><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2019-10-09_CACEnvironment_CAC_Keiper-15.jpg\" alt=\"Becoming Disciples\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Full of Suffering, Full of Love<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Thursday, September 3, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard considers the cross as the center of Jesus\u2019s life\u2014fully human, fully divine\u2014and expressing total solidarity with the pain of the world:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Divine Mind transforms all human suffering by identifying completely with the human predicament and standing in full solidarity with it from beginning to end. This is the real meaning of the crucifixion. The cross is not just a singular event. It\u2019s a statement from God that&nbsp;<em>reality has a cruciform pattern<\/em>. Jesus was killed in a collision of conflicting interests and half-truths, caught between the demands of an empire and the religious establishment of his day. The cross was the price Jesus paid for living in a \u201cmixed\u201d world, which is both human and divine, simultaneously broken and utterly whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In so doing, J<strong>esus demonstrated that Reality is not meaningless and absurd, even if it isn\u2019t always perfectly logical or consistent. Reality is filled with contradictions, what St. Bonaventure and others (such as Alan of Lille and Nicholas of Cusa) called the \u201ccoincidence of opposites.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus the Christ, in his crucifixion and resurrection, \u201crecapitulated all things in himself, everything in heaven and everything on earth\u201d (Ephesians 1:10). This one verse is the summary of Franciscan Christology. <strong>Jesus agreed to carry the mystery of universal suffering. He allowed it to change him (resurrection) and<\/strong>\u2014it is to be hoped\u2014<strong>us, too.<\/strong> C<strong>hrist frees us from the endless cycle of projecting our pain elsewhere or remaining trapped inside of it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This is the fully resurrected life, the only way to be happy, free, loving, and therefore \u201csaved.\u201d In effect, Jesus was saying, \u201cIf I can trust it, you can too.\u201d We are indeed saved by the cross\u2014more than we realize. The people who hold the contradictions and resolve them in themselves are the saviors of the world. They are the only real agents of transformation, reconciliation, and newness.\u00a0<em>Christians are called to be the visible compassion of God on earth.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These \u201csaviors,\u201d who are inevitably also <strong>disciples<\/strong>, exist in every period of time and in every faith tradition. At times they exist even with no \u201cfaith\u201d at all, beyond a consciously held belief that solidarity with all of life is, in fact, the meaning of life. For whatever reason, such people <strong>agree to share the fate of God for the life of the world now.<\/strong> These people <strong>feel called and agree to not hide from the shadow side of things or the rejected group, <\/strong>but in fact <strong>draw close to the pain of the world and allow it to radically change their perspective.<\/strong> They <strong>agree to embrace the imperfection and even the injustices of our world, allowing these situations to change them from the inside out, which is the only way things are changed anyway.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The gospel is simply the wisdom of those who agree to carry their part of the infinite suffering of God. It must be recognized that many non-Christians fully accept this vocation with greater freedom than many Christians.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reference:<\/strong><br>Adapted from Richard Rohr,&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/store.cac.org\/products\/the-universal-christ\"><strong>The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See,\u202fHope\u202ffor, and Believe<\/strong><\/a><\/em>&nbsp;(Convergent Books, 2021), 147\u2013148.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Image credit and inspiration<\/strong>: Jenna Keiper,\u00a0<em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2019-10-09_CACEnvironment_CAC_Keiper-15.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">CAC Environment<\/a><\/em>, 2019-10-09, Photograph, CAC campus, Albuquerque NM.\u00a0<em>What does it look like to lay down burdens and die to ourselves while still on the path to becoming?<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>============================================================================= <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Living Presence&#8221;&nbsp;<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ancient Wisdom for Modern Anxiety<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@bradleyjersak\"><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@bradleyjersak\">BRADLEY JERSAK<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AUG 01, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his profoundly helpful forthcoming book,&nbsp;<em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Ancient-Wisdom-Modern-Anxiety-Curiosity\/dp\/B0H533M8DN\">Ancient Wisdom for Modern Anxiety: Finding Relief through Curiosity and Wonder<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em>(Whitaker House, 2027 &#8211; preorders available now), Paul E. Ralph (hereafter PER or Paul) uses the personified language of&nbsp;<em><strong>\u201cLiving Presence\u201d<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;as a divine name or title. I like that for reasons I\u2019ll mention below.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Cjao!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff3b5a66f-ef95-49cd-84fc-9f83e66a2fc4_754x1128.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Cjao!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff3b5a66f-ef95-49cd-84fc-9f83e66a2fc4_754x1128.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul isn\u2019t the first to use the phrase\u2014a few earlier examples are notable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>J.A. Motyer (OT scholar and former Principal of Trinity College, Bristol) once wrote,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Over and over again in the Old Testament you come across the familiar phrase, \u201cThe word of the LORD came to &#8230;\u201d Now in Hebrew that is: \u2018The word of the LORD was to &#8230;\u2019 The verb used is the verb \u2018to be\u2019, not a verb of motion but a verb of realistic experience. \u2018The word of God became a living reality to &#8230;\u2019 <strong>The verb \u2018to be\u2019 in Hebrew means living reality,\u00a0<em>living presence<\/em>, not just some bare abstract idea of existence as compared with non-existence. When God focusses attention upon this divine name, \u2018I am Yahweh\u2019, he is saying, \u2018I am the God of\u00a0<em>living presence<\/em>\u00a0with my people\u2026\u2019\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>J.A. Motyer, \u201cThe Normative Covenant,\u201d&nbsp;<em>Evangel&nbsp;<\/em>(April, 1983), 4.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>A decade later, Kabir Edmund Helminski wrote a book that draws on the wisdom of Sufism to address contemporary life. He titled it&nbsp;<em><strong>Living Presence:&nbsp;A Sufi Way to Mindfulness &amp; the Essential Self<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/em>(Tarcher, 1992).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rounding out the Abrahamic religions, PER cites Nahum Ward-Lev\u2019s book on the Hebrew prophets as one of his sources to using the phrase as a proper name:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Seeking an alternative to \u201cthe Lord,\u201d I have chosen to translate God\u2019s Name as\u00a0<em><strong>\u201cthe Living Presence.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2026 <strong>The four letters of God\u2019s Name seem to refer to \u201cbeing\u201d itself, to \u201cBeing\u201d or \u201cBeing-ness\u201d that transcends time<\/strong>. My use of\u00a0<em><strong>\u201cthe Living Presence\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is also guided by God\u2019s interaction with Moses at the burning bush. When Moses asks for God\u2019s Name, God replies, \u201cI will be what I will be\u201d (Exodus 3:14). With this response, God both informs Moses that <strong>God\u2019s nature cannot be defined by any limiting quality, such as a name, and God assures Moses that God will be with him throughout time.<\/strong> Looking for a term that reflects this sense of \u201cBeing\u201d or \u201cBeing-ness\u201d accompanying human beings and creation throughout time, I chose the term\u00a0<em><strong>\u201cthe Living Presence.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nahum Ward-Lev.&nbsp;<em>The Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets Then and Now<\/em>&nbsp;(Orbis Books, 2019).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>All of these uses of \u201cliving presence\u201d are descriptions or translations, but in Paul\u2019s book and in our prayers together, he often uses that term as a proper name:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>\u201cLiving Presence, help me stay curious.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I find this especially helpful on several fronts. To begin with, it is inclusive. <strong>Paul\u2019s intentional use of the phrase welcomes all. It allows space for those who are suspicious of terms like \u201cGod\u201d\u2014a placeholder both too vague and too narrow to those who don\u2019t identify with a faith tradition.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike \u201cGround of Being,\u201d \u201cUltimate Reality,\u201d or \u201cSacred Presence,\u201d&nbsp;<em><strong>Living Presence<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;is deeply biblical in resonance (\u201cthe living God,\u201d but so far, unburdened by centuries of doctrinal or philosophical baggage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me personally, as I work in interfaith spaces, terms like \u201cuniverse\u201d or \u201cthe divine\u201d seem too impersonal. I have no objection to those who use them (as I do if it helps them), but&nbsp;<em><strong>\u201cLiving Presence\u201d<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;includes the immanence (radical nearness) and intimacy that pairs well with our experiences of infinite Love.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In that sense,&nbsp;<em><strong>Living Presence<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;is a descriptor vast enough for anyone whose concept of a \u201chigher power\u201d is also open to the Mystery of Something or Someone that is at least as relational, responsive, and caring as the mother archetype.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Further, even <strong>religious notions of \u201cGod\u201d can become a non-experience of \u201cdead absence.\u201d\u00a0<em>\u201cLiving Presence\u201d<\/em>\u00a0acknowledges an\u00a0<em>immersion<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cin whom we live and move and have our being\u201d) and an\u00a0<em>indwelling<\/em>\u00a0(infinite Love encountered\u00a0<em>within us<\/em>)<\/strong>. Yet even the agnostic is welcome to experience and experiment with the transforming aspects of a more impersonal\u00a0<em><strong>living presence<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>apart from the imaginary \u201cold man in the sky\u201d imagery of <strong>God<\/strong>. Paul\u2019s meditations on the\u00a0<em><strong>Living Presence<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>require no prior faith commitment\u2014all he <strong>asks for<\/strong> is <strong>openness to be met and held in our anxiety.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I love Paul and I love this book. Well worth the pre-order while you remember.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Full of Suffering, Full of Love Thursday, September 3, 2026 Father Richard considers the cross as the center of Jesus\u2019s life\u2014fully human, fully divine\u2014and expressing total solidarity with the pain of the world: The Divine Mind transforms all human suffering by identifying completely with the human predicament and standing in full solidarity with it from [&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\/27553"}],"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=27553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27554,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27553\/revisions\/27554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}