The Word (the theory, the theology) became "flesh" because words can't get you there, only experience can.
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
Christ surrounded by angels and saints (detail). Mosaic of a Ravennate italian-byzantine workshop, completed within 526 AD by the so-called
"Christ surrounded by Angels and Saints" (detail). Mosaic of a Ravennate Italian-Byzantine workshop, completed 526 AD by the
so-called "Master of Sant'Apollinare," Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy.
  
Jesus: Human and Divine
A Map of Reality
Thursday, March 19, 2015  

As I like to say, the greatest ally of God is what is. The Christian word for full reality is Incarnation. It took the whole Hebrew Bible to get there, and it took personal form two thousand years ago, perhaps because only then was human consciousness developed enough to imagine such a thing could be true. The eternal pre-existent Christ became a human body in space and time, which we call Jesus.

 

Jesus is the stand in for what is and what will be. He sets the inevitable trajectory: divine conception (hidden and unrecognized), ordinary and mundane existence (thirty years before his active ministry), eventual enlightenment and recognition (baptism), engagement in the world (healing and teaching), trials, misunderstanding, passion, even crucifixion and death (the inevitable result of faithfulness to love and truth), resurrection (God's promised response), and final ascension back to God (fully completing the circle).

 

You can trust and allow this same divine process of human transformation in yourself! What an extraordinary map, assurance, and promise when you are caught somewhere in the middle. And it is so much more real than the old, tired reward/punishment threat that was supposed to coerce humanity into virtue (which did not work very well because then it would not be virtue!).

 

God does not meet us in formulas, mere doctrines, special spiritual methods, and strong moralisms nearly as much as God meets us in reality--as it offers itself hour by hour. Is this not truly "our daily bread"? The Word (the theory, the theology) became "flesh" because words can't get you there, only experience can.

 

God comes in Jesus to share in and experience our human reality and to give us the courage to trust the same pattern in ourselves, in others, and in history itself. This is surely the key to remaining fully alive and not getting bogged down in cynicism or victimhood. St. Irenaeus of Lyon (who died in AD 202) said, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive." And in Teilhard de Chardin's words (which I paraphrase), "We are not human beings trying to become spiritual; we are already spiritual beings, and we are just trying and needing to become human for one another"! Isn't that the real human problem today and always?
Adapted from Scripture as Liberation ( MP3 download);
and Hell, No! ( CD, MP3 download) or In the Beginning ( CD, MP3 download)
Gateway to Silence
Jesus came to show God's love.
A webcast with Richard Rohr, OFM

 

Rediscovering the Wisdom of Early Christianity

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

5:00-6:30 p.m. Mountain Time

 

Fr. Richard re-introduces us to the largely forgotten roots of our
Christian faith--the Desert Fathers and Mothers and the Eastern
Fathers of the Church. He helps us reclaim ancient teachings such as
the prayer of quiet, the mutuality of Trinity, universal restoration,
and a simple spirituality of transformation into Christ.

 

Register at cac.org

 

Register by Friday, April 10, 2015 to participate in the live webcast and/or to view the replay. The replay will become available approximately one week following the live webcast
and will remain available for 30 days
only to those who register in advance.

Last chance to register!

 

Breathing Under Water: A Spiritual Study of the Twelve Steps

April 8-June 3, 2015

 

A self-paced, online course for anyone
who seeks greater freedom and wholeness

 

Learn more at cac.org  

 

Registration closes March 25 or when course reaches capacity.

2015 Daily Meditation Theme

Richard Rohr's meditations this year explore his "Wisdom Lineage," the teachers, texts, and traditions that have most influenced his spirituality. Read an introduction to the year's theme and view a list of the elements of Fr. Richard's lineage in CAC's January newsletter, the Mendicant.  

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