Image credit: Three Russian Dancers (detail), Edgar Degas, 1895, National Museum, Stockholm Sweden.
"Trinity: Week 2"
"The Body of Christ"
Thursday, March 9, 2017
A Trinitarian person in formation is someone being freed of narcissism’s chains. A partner in the divine dance is someone who agrees to stand in the mutual relationship that God is—the relationship that God has already and gratuitously drawn us into.
As Lay Cistercian and teacher Carl McColman puts it:
God is in us, because we are in Christ. As members of the mystical body, Christians actually partake in the divine nature of the Trinity. We do not merely watch the dance, we dance the dance. We join hands with Christ and the Spirit flows through us and between us and our feet move always in the loving embrace of the Father. In that we are members of the mystical body of Christ, we see the joyful love of the Father through the eyes of the Son. And with every breath, we breathe the Holy Spirit. [1]
The Trinity is a participative mystery and all creation is invited to participate! But hand-taking, embracing, and breathing-with aren’t often immediately attractive to us. Vulnerability, letting go, total disclosure, and surrender don’t come easily. Our culture is built on a movement toward empire and aggrandizement of the group. This creates the interior conflict that Scripture describes as the conflict between the world and the Spirit.
Please understand that in the New Testament the oft-used word world doesn’t refer to creation. The best interpretation would be the “system.” This system is the way we structure reality, and it’s almost always going to be diametrically opposed to the mystery of the Trinity. You can see why the most Jesus hoped for—and why you can’t understand Jesus without the Trinity—is that his group might become a “little flock” (see Luke 12:32), “leaven” or “yeast” (see Matthew 13:33). The Gospels call it “the Twelve” (see Mark 9:35), a critical mass. Jesus seems to have the patience and humility to trust a slow leavening process. This is quite different from any notion of empire or “Christendom” which relies upon the use of dominating power.
There’s no evidence Jesus ever expected his little movement to take over the world—that is, the “system”—but instead that there’d be just enough people living into this kind of mutuality to be the leaven in the dough keeping this entire creation from total delusion and self-destruction. Please don’t jump to the conclusion, though, that God doesn’t love (and indeed like) all those who are “in and of” the system. They just suffer and severely limit themselves by divided loyalties.
Gateway to Silence: In the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit
References:
[1] Carl McColman, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism: The Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, 2010), 165-166. Emphasis is in the original.
Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 64-65.
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As Lay Cistercian and teacher Carl McColman puts it:
God is in us, because we are in Christ. As members of the mystical body, Christians actually partake in the divine nature of the Trinity. We do not merely watch the dance, we dance the dance. We join hands with Christ and the Spirit flows through us and between us and our feet move always in the loving embrace of the Father. In that we are members of the mystical body of Christ, we see the joyful love of the Father through the eyes of the Son. And with every breath, we breathe the Holy Spirit. [1]
The Trinity is a participative mystery and all creation is invited to participate! But hand-taking, embracing, and breathing-with aren’t often immediately attractive to us. Vulnerability, letting go, total disclosure, and surrender don’t come easily. Our culture is built on a movement toward empire and aggrandizement of the group. This creates the interior conflict that Scripture describes as the conflict between the world and the Spirit.
Please understand that in the New Testament the oft-used word world doesn’t refer to creation. The best interpretation would be the “system.” This system is the way we structure reality, and it’s almost always going to be diametrically opposed to the mystery of the Trinity. You can see why the most Jesus hoped for—and why you can’t understand Jesus without the Trinity—is that his group might become a “little flock” (see Luke 12:32), “leaven” or “yeast” (see Matthew 13:33). The Gospels call it “the Twelve” (see Mark 9:35), a critical mass. Jesus seems to have the patience and humility to trust a slow leavening process. This is quite different from any notion of empire or “Christendom” which relies upon the use of dominating power.
There’s no evidence Jesus ever expected his little movement to take over the world—that is, the “system”—but instead that there’d be just enough people living into this kind of mutuality to be the leaven in the dough keeping this entire creation from total delusion and self-destruction. Please don’t jump to the conclusion, though, that God doesn’t love (and indeed like) all those who are “in and of” the system. They just suffer and severely limit themselves by divided loyalties.
Gateway to Silence: In the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit
References:
[1] Carl McColman, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism: The Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, 2010), 165-166. Emphasis is in the original.
Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 64-65.
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TRINITY: The Soul of Creation
with Richard Rohr, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Wm Paul Young
The in-person conference is sold out! Over 1,800 people are gathering in Albuquerque this April. If you haven’t registered, join us for the webcast.
LIVE: April 6–8, 2017
LATER: Watch at any time through May 14, 2017
Only $59 per connection! Bring your church, family, or friends together to share the experience. Register by March 31 at cac.org/trinity.
Copyright © 2017
Center for Action and Contemplation
with Richard Rohr, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Wm Paul Young
The in-person conference is sold out! Over 1,800 people are gathering in Albuquerque this April. If you haven’t registered, join us for the webcast.
LIVE: April 6–8, 2017
LATER: Watch at any time through May 14, 2017
Only $59 per connection! Bring your church, family, or friends together to share the experience. Register by March 31 at cac.org/trinity.
Copyright © 2017
Center for Action and Contemplation
1823 Five Points Road, SouthWest (physical)
PO Box 12464 (mailing)
PO Box 12464 (mailing)
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87195, United States
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Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for Wednesday, 8 March 2017: "Absolute Vulnerability" of Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States God’s mystery rests in mutuality.
Image credit: Three Russian Dancers (detail), Edgar Degas, 1895, National Museum, Stockholm Sweden.
"Trinity: Week 2"
"Absolute Vulnerability"
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.[Brené Brown [1]]
“Weakness” isn’t a trait any of us wish to be associated with, and yet the apostle Paul describes no less than God having weakness! Paul says, “God’s weakness is stronger than human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25). How could God be weak?
We are in a new ballpark here. Let’s admit that we admire strength and importance. We admire self-sufficiency, autonomy, the self-made person. This is surely the American way. This weakness of God, as Paul calls it, is not something we admire or want to imitate. Maybe this has been part of our resistance to this mystery of Trinity.
Human strength I would describe as self-sufficiency. God’s weakness I would describe as inter-being. Human strength admires autonomy and holding on. There is something positive about this; it’s not all wrong. But the irony is, the mystery of Trinity is much more about letting go, which looks like weakness.
We’re almost embarrassed by this mystery of Trinity; maybe that’s why we haven’t unpackaged it. God’s mystery rests in mutuality: three “persons” perfectly handing over, emptying themselves out, and then fully receiving what has been handed over.
We like control; God, it seems, loves vulnerability. In fact, if Jesus is the image of God, then God is much better described as “Absolute Vulnerability Between Three” than “All-mighty One.” Yet how many Christian prayers begin with some form of “Almighty God”? If you’re immersed in the Trinitarian mystery, you must equally say “All-Vulnerable God,” too!
Vulnerability isn’t admired in our culture. If we haven’t touched and united with the vulnerable place within us, we’re normally projecting seeming invulnerability outside and judging others for their weakness. This seems particularly true of men, as many years of leading male initiation rites taught me.
Human strength wants to promote, project, and protect a clear sense of self-identity and autonomy rather than inter-being or interface.
“I know who I am,” we love to say. And yet we have this Father, Son, and Holy Spirit operating out of a received identity given by another. “I am Son only in relationship to Father, and he gives me my who-ness, my being.”
Gateway to Silence: In the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit
References:
[1] Brené Brown, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (Avery: 2015), 34.
Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 57, 59-60.
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Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for Wednesday, 8 March 2017: "Absolute Vulnerability" of Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States God’s mystery rests in mutuality.
Image credit: Three Russian Dancers (detail), Edgar Degas, 1895, National Museum, Stockholm Sweden.
"Trinity: Week 2"
"Absolute Vulnerability"
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.[Brené Brown [1]]
“Weakness” isn’t a trait any of us wish to be associated with, and yet the apostle Paul describes no less than God having weakness! Paul says, “God’s weakness is stronger than human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25). How could God be weak?
We are in a new ballpark here. Let’s admit that we admire strength and importance. We admire self-sufficiency, autonomy, the self-made person. This is surely the American way. This weakness of God, as Paul calls it, is not something we admire or want to imitate. Maybe this has been part of our resistance to this mystery of Trinity.
Human strength I would describe as self-sufficiency. God’s weakness I would describe as inter-being. Human strength admires autonomy and holding on. There is something positive about this; it’s not all wrong. But the irony is, the mystery of Trinity is much more about letting go, which looks like weakness.
We’re almost embarrassed by this mystery of Trinity; maybe that’s why we haven’t unpackaged it. God’s mystery rests in mutuality: three “persons” perfectly handing over, emptying themselves out, and then fully receiving what has been handed over.
We like control; God, it seems, loves vulnerability. In fact, if Jesus is the image of God, then God is much better described as “Absolute Vulnerability Between Three” than “All-mighty One.” Yet how many Christian prayers begin with some form of “Almighty God”? If you’re immersed in the Trinitarian mystery, you must equally say “All-Vulnerable God,” too!
Vulnerability isn’t admired in our culture. If we haven’t touched and united with the vulnerable place within us, we’re normally projecting seeming invulnerability outside and judging others for their weakness. This seems particularly true of men, as many years of leading male initiation rites taught me.
Human strength wants to promote, project, and protect a clear sense of self-identity and autonomy rather than inter-being or interface.
“I know who I am,” we love to say. And yet we have this Father, Son, and Holy Spirit operating out of a received identity given by another. “I am Son only in relationship to Father, and he gives me my who-ness, my being.”
Gateway to Silence: In the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit
References:
[1] Brené Brown, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (Avery: 2015), 34.
Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 57, 59-60.
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Come find your co-conspirators!
During this divisive and polarized time, we need connection now more than ever. There’s something powerfully transformative about shaking a stranger’s hand and honoring the divine in them, sitting in silence and letting all barriers dissolve. Conspirare . . . breathe together.
CONSPIRE 2017: Transformation
Friday, July 7–Sunday, July 9
Hotel Albuquerque
Featuring keynote speakers Richard Rohr, angel Kyodo williams, Mirabai Starr, Ken Wilber (via video)
Scholarships, a student rate, and a webcast option are available. Register at cac.org/conspire-2017-overview/.
Copyright © 2017
Center for Action and Contemplation
During this divisive and polarized time, we need connection now more than ever. There’s something powerfully transformative about shaking a stranger’s hand and honoring the divine in them, sitting in silence and letting all barriers dissolve. Conspirare . . . breathe together.
CONSPIRE 2017: Transformation
Friday, July 7–Sunday, July 9
Hotel Albuquerque
Featuring keynote speakers Richard Rohr, angel Kyodo williams, Mirabai Starr, Ken Wilber (via video)
Scholarships, a student rate, and a webcast option are available. Register at cac.org/conspire-2017-overview/.
Copyright © 2017
Center for Action and Contemplation
1823 Five Points Road, SouthWest (physical)
PO Box 12464 (mailing)
PO Box 12464 (mailing)
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87195, United States
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Find your co-conspirators! for Tuesday, 7 March 2017 of Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States "Join a vibrant community through online courses, conferences, and webcasts."
Trinity: Unity in Diversity
Centering Prayer (by guest writer Cynthia Bourgeault)
Being Human (by guest writer James Finley)
Find additional meditations by Richard Rohr in CAC’s online archive.
CAC Bookstore, visit store.cac.org
Copyright © 2017
Center for Action and Contemplation
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Find your co-conspirators! for Tuesday, 7 March 2017 of Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States "Join a vibrant community through online courses, conferences, and webcasts."
Trinity: Unity in Diversity
Centering Prayer (by guest writer Cynthia Bourgeault)
Being Human (by guest writer James Finley)
Find additional meditations by Richard Rohr in CAC’s online archive.
CAC Bookstore, visit store.cac.org
Copyright © 2017
Center for Action and Contemplation
1823 Five Points Road, SouthWest (physical)
PO Box 12464
PO Box 12464
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87195, United States(mailing)
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Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for Tuesday, 7 March 2017: "Trust and Surrender" of Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States Power is not something to be grasped at.
Image credit: Three Russian Dancers (detail), Edgar Degas, 1895, National Museum, Stockholm Sweden.
"Trinity: Week 2"
"Trust and Surrender"
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Power, according to Jesus and the Trinity, is not something to be “grasped at” (see Philippians 2:6-7). I don’t need to cling to my title, my uniform, my authorship, or whatever other trappings I use to make myself feel powerful and important. Waking up inside the Trinitarian dance, I realize that all of this is rather unimportant; in fact, it’s often pretense that keeps me from my True Self and gets in the way of honesty, vulnerability, and community.
We all already have our power (dynamis) within us and between us—in fact, Jesus assures us that we are “clothed” in it (see Luke 24:49)! Trinity, the primal and ultimate Source, begins creation by releasing that which empowers everything else: “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).
It seems to me that the only people who can handle power well are those who don’t need it too much, those who can equally let go of it and share it. The only people who can handle power are those who have made journeys through powerlessness. Most others seem to abuse it. This wisdom comes from universally practiced male initiation rites. [1] “Uninitiated” males, who too easily acquire power, invariably use it for their own purposes of advancement, seldom for the common good. Only love can safely handle power.
Shared power is not the language of corporate America or the wealthy one percent. Surrender, yielding, trusting, and giving are never going to appeal to the ego. We have to be taught this deeper wisdom soon or civilization will continue its rapid downward spiral.
The key, of course, is to Whom we are surrendering: a Trinitarian God. The life of faith is learning how to rest in an Ultimate Love and how to draw upon an Infinite Source. On a very practical level, you will then be able to trust that you are being held and guided. In fact, you can trust after a while that almost everything is a kind of guidance.
When you doubt the possibility of guidance, you’ve just stopped the flow. But if you stay on the path of allowing and trusting, the Spirit in you will allow you to confidently surrender: There’s a reason for this. God is in this, too.
Please don’t hear me as adopting a fatalistic approach, as though you can’t work to change or improve your situation. Quite the contrary—you can. But I am saying that what first comes to your heart and soul must be a yes instead of a no, trust instead of resistance. When you can lead with yes and allow yourself to see God in all moments, you’ll recognize that nothing is ever wasted. Trinity is in the business of generating life and light from all situations, even the bad and sinful ones.
Gateway to Silence: In the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit
References:
[1] See Richard Rohr, Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation (The Crossroad Publishing Company: 2004).
Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 96-98.
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Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for Tuesday, 7 March 2017: "Trust and Surrender" of Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States Power is not something to be grasped at.
Image credit: Three Russian Dancers (detail), Edgar Degas, 1895, National Museum, Stockholm Sweden.
"Trinity: Week 2"
"Trust and Surrender"
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Power, according to Jesus and the Trinity, is not something to be “grasped at” (see Philippians 2:6-7). I don’t need to cling to my title, my uniform, my authorship, or whatever other trappings I use to make myself feel powerful and important. Waking up inside the Trinitarian dance, I realize that all of this is rather unimportant; in fact, it’s often pretense that keeps me from my True Self and gets in the way of honesty, vulnerability, and community.
We all already have our power (dynamis) within us and between us—in fact, Jesus assures us that we are “clothed” in it (see Luke 24:49)! Trinity, the primal and ultimate Source, begins creation by releasing that which empowers everything else: “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).
It seems to me that the only people who can handle power well are those who don’t need it too much, those who can equally let go of it and share it. The only people who can handle power are those who have made journeys through powerlessness. Most others seem to abuse it. This wisdom comes from universally practiced male initiation rites. [1] “Uninitiated” males, who too easily acquire power, invariably use it for their own purposes of advancement, seldom for the common good. Only love can safely handle power.
Shared power is not the language of corporate America or the wealthy one percent. Surrender, yielding, trusting, and giving are never going to appeal to the ego. We have to be taught this deeper wisdom soon or civilization will continue its rapid downward spiral.
The key, of course, is to Whom we are surrendering: a Trinitarian God. The life of faith is learning how to rest in an Ultimate Love and how to draw upon an Infinite Source. On a very practical level, you will then be able to trust that you are being held and guided. In fact, you can trust after a while that almost everything is a kind of guidance.
When you doubt the possibility of guidance, you’ve just stopped the flow. But if you stay on the path of allowing and trusting, the Spirit in you will allow you to confidently surrender: There’s a reason for this. God is in this, too.
Please don’t hear me as adopting a fatalistic approach, as though you can’t work to change or improve your situation. Quite the contrary—you can. But I am saying that what first comes to your heart and soul must be a yes instead of a no, trust instead of resistance. When you can lead with yes and allow yourself to see God in all moments, you’ll recognize that nothing is ever wasted. Trinity is in the business of generating life and light from all situations, even the bad and sinful ones.
Gateway to Silence: In the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit
References:
[1] See Richard Rohr, Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation (The Crossroad Publishing Company: 2004).
Adapted from Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 96-98.
-------
Come find your co-conspirators!
During this divisive and polarized time, we need connection now more than ever. There’s something powerfully transformative about shaking a stranger’s hand and honoring the divine in them, sitting in silence and letting all barriers dissolve. Conspirare . . . breathe together.
CONSPIRE 2017: Transformation
Friday, July 7–Sunday, July 9
Hotel Albuquerque
Featuring keynote speakers Richard Rohr, angel Kyodo williams, Mirabai Starr, Ken Wilber (via video)
Scholarships, a student rate, and a webcast option are available. Register at cac.org/conspire-2017-overview/.
Copyright © 2017
Center for Action and Contemplation
During this divisive and polarized time, we need connection now more than ever. There’s something powerfully transformative about shaking a stranger’s hand and honoring the divine in them, sitting in silence and letting all barriers dissolve. Conspirare . . . breathe together.
CONSPIRE 2017: Transformation
Friday, July 7–Sunday, July 9
Hotel Albuquerque
Featuring keynote speakers Richard Rohr, angel Kyodo williams, Mirabai Starr, Ken Wilber (via video)
Scholarships, a student rate, and a webcast option are available. Register at cac.org/conspire-2017-overview/.
Copyright © 2017
Center for Action and Contemplation
1823 Five Points Road, SouthWest (physical)
PO Box 12464 (mailing)
PO Box 12464 (mailing)
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87195, United States
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