{"id":27709,"date":"2026-10-06T08:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27709"},"modified":"2026-10-06T09:01:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:01:29","slug":"27709","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27709","title":{"rendered":"Conversion Through Creation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\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=\"The Chicks - The Long Way Around (Lyrics)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6ktjI6iFNhs?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\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Tuesday, October 6, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Sister Ilia Delio describes Francis of Assisi as a nature mystic: &nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Francis attained the heights of contemplation through his penetrating vision of creation&#8230;. Some regard him as \u201cthe first materialist\u201d in the best sense of the word because of the way he looked on the material world\u2014not for&nbsp;<em>what<\/em>&nbsp;it is but for&nbsp;<em>how<\/em>&nbsp;it is\u2014God\u2019s creation. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Francis has been described as a nature mystic, one who finds God in the vast and beautiful fields of nature. A <strong>nature mystic is one whose mystical experiences involve an appreciation of creation as God\u2019s handiwork; nature manifests the divine<\/strong>. Francis\u2019s nature mysticism included a consciousness of God, with the appropriate religious attitudes of awe and gratitude&#8230;. He took <strong>spontaneous joy in the material world, <\/strong>singing its praises like a troubadour poet. With a disarming sense of immediacy, he felt himself part of the family of the creation.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br><em>Delio describes how Francis\u2019s conversion deepened as he became more aware of God\u2019s presence in the material world: &nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coming to an awareness of God\u2019s presence in creation was not an immediate experience for Francis but required growth in love. <strong>Conversion is a slow, lifelong process. It is a constant effort of moving away from sin-centered attitudes and behaviors toward God-centered relationships. <\/strong>With this movement from sin toward God, there is a<strong> gradual change in one\u2019s consciousness or awareness of others and in one\u2019s relationship to others.<\/strong> It took Francis a lifetime to realize his integral relationship to others, not only to humans but to all of creation. The&nbsp;<em>Canticle of Creatures<\/em>, which sings of Francis\u2019s cosmic fraternity, his integral relationship to all the elements of the universe, was composed in 1225, one year before he died. <strong>It took Francis a lifetime to realize that he was truly brother to the sun, moon, stars, fire and water, that is, to the whole cosmos\u2026.&nbsp;<\/strong><br>&nbsp;<br>In his Major Legend, Bonaventure describes Francis\u2019s relationship with Christ as one of deepening piety. The word \u201cpiety\u201d (<em>pietas<\/em>) means \u201cblood-related\u201d or \u201cfamily related.\u201d It can be defined as an attitude of respect toward those to whom one is bound by ties of religion, consanguinity; of relationships between human beings. Bonaventure highlights the idea that, through his relationship with Christ, Francis came to realize his \u201cfamily\u201d relatedness to everything, including the tiny creatures of creation\u2026. &nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br>Bonaventure claims that <strong>everything in creation \u201cspoke\u201d to Francis of God. He came to \u201csee\u201d God\u2019s goodness in every aspect of creation, so that everything ultimately led him to Christ, the Word of God.<\/strong> That Francis came to \u201csee\u201d God in creation points to the idea that Francis contemplated God in the things of creation. Contemplation is a penetrating gaze that gets to the truth of reality, and <strong>Francis came to \u201csee\u201d the truth of things by following the footprints of Jesus Christ.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Grace is not a race to the finish line<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rethinking quick comebacks and recommitting to the slow work of transformation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@chuckdegroat\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@chuckdegroat\">CHUCK DEGROAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>OCT 04, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cAppear to be what thou art. Tear off thy masks. The church was never meant to be a masquerade.\u201d \u2014Charles Spurgeon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cHow long will this take?<\/strong>\u201d may be one of the most common questions I\u2019ve heard over 25 years of counseling leaders. Whether it comes amidst a season of burnout, after a massive relational rupture, a major failure, a marriage crisis, or something else, a primary question centers one thing: speed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s just name this first: <strong>Speed confuses the immediacy of grace with the slow work of becoming.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saul encountered <strong>grace on Damascus Road, but it took three years in the desert to become Paul. <\/strong>The Israelites were rescued from Egypt, but it took forty years to navigate an 11-day journey home.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The immediacy of grace does not ignore the slow work of awakening to the depth of personal pain, the extent of relational harm, the awareness of impact, the story of formation, the autonomic dysregulation, the work of repair, the sincerity and specificity of confession, the restoration of trust.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I often remind people, the first question isn\u2019t one of speed, it\u2019s&nbsp;<strong>can I stay in the discomfort long enough to be changed through it?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this is when the pushback comes. Who are we to put a time limit on God\u2019s grace?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yet, in Scripture repeatedly centers wounded sheep over a fallen shepherd. Ezekiel condemns the leaders who \u201crule harshly\u201d and neglect the weak while God becomes the good shepherd who attends to those wounded. Jeremiah pronounces woe on shepherds who harm the flock. Micah condemns leaders who should know better. Jesus pronounces woe on religious leaders who look and dress the part but compromise justice, mercy, and faithfulness, burdening others. James follows the tradition, reminding leaders that they\u2019ll be judged more strictly. And Peter warns against domineering. Grace is never understood as an escape hatch from accountability; rather grace enables the care of those harmed and a slow path of transformation of the one who did the harm.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dietrich Bonhoeffer provides us a way forward. In&nbsp;<em>Life Together,&nbsp;<\/em>he warned of the \u201cpious confession\u201d of those who say what seems to be the right thing, but haven\u2019t confessed with sincerity and specificity. You know the words: \u201cI shouldn\u2019t have done that,\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve made some mistakes,\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s just how my Enneagram shows up,\u201d \u201cI know I can be a bit strong, but it\u2019s also your daddy issues,\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve apologized\u2014I don\u2019t know what more you want me to say.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bonhoeffer writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of the unexpressed it poisons the whole being of a person.<\/strong> This can happen even in the midst of a pious community. <strong>In confession the light of the gospel breaks into the darkness and seclusion of the heart. The sin must be brought into the light.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>He goes on to say that people \u201cusually are satisfied when they make a general confession,\u201d reminding his readers that \u201cit is precisely for the sake of this certainty that confession should deal with concrete sins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This concreteness goes beyond, \u201cI\u2019ve made some mistakes\u201d or \u201cIt was a tough season and I wasn\u2019t leading from my best self.\u201d It names reality:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I intimidated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I lied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I retaliated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I retreated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I minimized.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I managed my image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it impacted this person, in this specific way.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Qy-A!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7838c33-cd8c-4110-9165-b2735c8bc379_600x547.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Qy-A!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7838c33-cd8c-4110-9165-b2735c8bc379_600x547.jpeg\" alt=\"Image of the Mask\" title=\"Image of the Mask\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This, according to Bonhoeffer, frees us from the \u201ccircle of self-deception.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I\u2019d also argue there is yet another level to consider, which invites us to consider the psychology of self-deception.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because as I write about in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Who-Youre-Becoming-Cultivating-Narcissistic\/dp\/1496483189\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0#\">Who You\u2019re Becoming: The Slow and Courageous Work of Character Change in a Narcissistic Age<\/a>, <strong>the kind of specificity and sincerity we\u2019re looking for is impossible when a nervous system is locked in a survival mode. <\/strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">And every single defended person is operating out of this autonomic orientation.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What we know neurobiologically and physiologically is that <strong>it\u2019s impossible to confess, to repair, to own, and to engage humbly when operating in a dysregulated state. <\/strong>And even more, we know that this for many becomes a kind of permanent operating state. It often takes weeks and months alone to begin to see the depths of one\u2019s dysregulation. But the good news is that this often awakens further curiosity:<strong> How did I get here in the first place? And how can I cultivate a soul at rest?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This can\u2019t be rushed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This curiosity is often the very beginning of humility. Writing to a young man consumed with status, appearance, and reputation, St. Augustine wrote these words in AD 410:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cIf you should ask me what are the ways of God, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is humility. Not that there are no other precepts to give, but<strong> if humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Humility is from the latin&nbsp;<em>humus,&nbsp;<\/em>meaning earth, soil, ground. Humility invites our descent, like a seed lowered into the earth, where life can begin anew.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Friends, I don\u2019t know when grace became connected to speed. I don\u2019t know when we turned sanctification into a 100-meter dash. Sadly, <strong>the long history of the church reveals our penchant for control, efficiency, speed, power, mastery, and more.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I say in the new book, grace isn\u2019t a race to the finish line. Sometimes grace looks like enough love and safety and time and care and truth and limits for a person to finally encounter the parts of themselves that charisma and competence had long allowed them to outrun.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In the end, grace enables us to ask: What am I becoming?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>This essay is free. I\u2019d be grateful if you\u2019d become<strong>&nbsp;a paid subscriber<\/strong>, as it helps me keep writing. Comments are enabled for paid subscribers, which allows me to respond to you. And I occasionally offered paid subscriber content like books I\u2019m reading and recommending. You can become a paid subscriber here:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sit with Chuck is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s to the slow work of becoming,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!y0Yz!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F918ea911-2809-44cf-a1e4-fca27d020a9a_491x318.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!y0Yz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F918ea911-2809-44cf-a1e4-fca27d020a9a_491x318.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tuesday, October 6, 2026 Sister Ilia Delio describes Francis of Assisi as a nature mystic: &nbsp; Francis attained the heights of contemplation through his penetrating vision of creation&#8230;. Some regard him as \u201cthe first materialist\u201d in the best sense of the word because of the way he looked on the material world\u2014not for&nbsp;what&nbsp;it is but [&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\/27709"}],"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=27709"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27714,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27709\/revisions\/27714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}