Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Twelve: "Thisness"
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation "Inner Light" from the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States for Friday, 23 March 2018
Friday, March 23, 2018
I have the immense joy of being a [human being], a member of a race in which God became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun. (Thomas Merton [1])
You are the light of the world. . . . Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14, 16)
A mystic—like Merton, Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, John Duns Scotus, and many others—is one who recognizes God’s image and likeness in this human being, in this creature, in this moment, and from that encounter with the sacred comes to see God everywhere and always. The mystic cannot help but love and have compassion for what is right in front of them. God’s indwelling presence—in every created thing—is inherent and cannot be earned or destroyed.
In her book, Scotus for Dunces, Mary Beth Ingham writes:
Haecceitas points to the ineffable within each being. . . . According to Scotus, the created order is not best understood as a transparent medium through which divine light [from the outside] shines (as Aquinas taught), but is itself endowed with an inner light that shines forth from within. [This is like the] difference between a window (Aquinas) and a lamp (Scotus). Both give light, but the source of light for Scotus has already been given to the being by the creator. Each being . . . possesses an immanent dignity; it is already gifted by the loving Creator with a sanctity beyond our ability to understand. . . .
Once we recognize the value of nature, of others, and of ourselves, we are called to act in imago Christi, as images of Christ who embodied divine love. [2]
At a CAC conference many years ago, Ingham reflected:
In the most concrete we discover the most ultimate. That is what it means for God to become one of us. The concrete individual who lived in the Middle East 2000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth, was both divine and human.
And so, what does this mean for us? We are called to see the greatness of God in the smallest of things. We see divinity within humanity. We discover in ourselves a light within, and we discover in every human being, and as Scotus teaches, in everything that exists, an inner light that is a gift from God. [3]
When we become open and receptive to the ordinary, we discover:
The one is the way to the many.
The specific is the way to the spacious.
The now is the way to always.
The here is the way to the everywhere.
The material is the way to the spiritual.
The visible is the way to the invisible.
Gateway to Presence: If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
***
[1] Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (Image Books: 1968), 157.[2] Mary Beth Ingham, Scotus for Dunces: An Introduction to the Subtle Doctor (The Franciscan Institute: 2003), 53, 54-55, 66.
[3] Mary Beth Ingham, Holding the Tension: The Power of Paradox, disc 5 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2007), CD, MP3 download.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Just This(Center for Action and Contemplation: 2017), 10-11.
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Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation - "One of a Kind" from the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States for Thursday, 22 March 2018
"One of a Kind"
Thursday, March 22, 2018
My friend, Sister of Saint Joseph and Professor Mary Beth Ingham, knows John Duns Scotus inside and out. Over a decade ago we spoke together at a conference in Albuquerque called Holding the Tension. Today I share her insights from Duns Scotus’ teaching of haecceity or thisness, drawn from that conference.
What is haecceity? It’s you. It’s the unique identity inherent in each being. Each one of us has been given our gift, and that’s our little “haec.” It’s what makes me, me, and not somebody else. Haec cannot be cloned. It’s the part of me that is not to be replicated.
So, I’m not just one of a kind, and you’re not just one of a kind, and we are each not just one of a kind; we are one of an eternity. No pressure! Each of us has come with a gift. And if we do not give our gift, the world misses out.
Haecceity is a term invented by Duns Scotus to capture the ineffable. It’s that which I cannot name within myself. No amount of self-help exercises will ever exhaust the mystery that is me. So, the good news is I can never figure myself out. I can always surprise myself.
Since before the foundation of the world, God has longed to be one with us. Jesus is the mutuality of God in creation. The incarnation is God’s presence in our world—not an event of the past. The incarnation is still going on in our lives. And our vocation is to join God’s dynamic, incarnate energy in the world and to be that presence wherever we find ourselves.
Duns Scotus writes: “You ask me, what is this haec? What is this thing from which the individual difference is taken? Is it matter or form or the composite? I give you this answer: . . . It’s just this.” [1]
You’re just yourself. Live with it. Here I am. I’m just me and all I can do is be me. That’s the only thing I can do, and I can do it better than anybody else. If I don’t do it, nobody will do it. So often we spend our lives trying to be other people. Yet God says, “I made you, and I like the you I’ve made, so just do your best and be yourself, and I’ll be there to help you.” It’s not something we have to do alone, but something we grow into.
Allan Wolter [a Franciscan theologian and philosopher] said that haecceity invests each person with a unique value as one singularly wanted and loved by God, quite apart from any trait that person shares with anybody else, or any contribution he or she might make to society. Haecceity is our personal gift from God. [2] Part of our vocation is to appreciate ourselves as the pearl of great price—because God does. We get to discover ourselves as the treasure in the field and to rejoice with God in the wondrous work that God does in each of our lives (Matthew 13:44-46), quite independent of any contribution we might make to society, any quantitative way of measuring.
Gateway to Presence: If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
[2] John Duns Scotus, Early Oxford Lecture on Individuation, trans. and intro. by Allan Wolter (New York: The Franciscan Institute, 2005), xxi.
Mary Beth Ingham, Holding the Tension: The Power of Paradox, disc 5 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2007), CD, MP3 download.
***
Thank you for being part of CAC’s contemplative community. You are one of 283,004 readers worldwide (as of March 2018).
News from the CAC
Essential Teachings on Love
We are delighted to commemorate Father Richard’s 75th birthday with a new book in collaboration with Orbis Books. Drawing largely from his 2016 Daily Meditations, this collection shares many of Richard’s core teachings on Love. Interwoven with a personal interview, the writings illuminate a lifelong journey of growing in love—a journey open to all who are willing. Experiences from Richard’s life, both joyful and sorrowful, illustrate how the path has unfolded for him and how we each might come to know Love more intimately. Richard Rohr: Essential Teachings on Love is now available at store.cac.org.
Sharing Transformative Teachings
In lieu of gifts or greetings, we invite contributions to the Center for Action and Contemplation’s scholarship fund. (Might we suggest a gift of $75?) Thanks to your support, we are able to offer scholarships for the Living School, online courses, and conferences. You may donate securely online at cac.org/75-year-scholarship-gift or write a check (USD only), payable to CAC, and mail to PO Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195.
"Image and Likeness"
2018 Daily Meditations Theme
God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)
Richard Rohr explores places in which God’s presence has often been ignored or assumed absent. God’s “image” is our inherent identity in and union with God, an eternal essence that cannot be destroyed. “Likeness” is our personal embodiment of that inner divine image that we have the freedom to develop—or not—throughout our lives. Though we differ in likeness, the imago Dei persists and shines through all created things.
Over the course of this year’s Daily Meditations, discover opportunities to incarnate love in your unique context by unveiling the Image and Likeness of God in all that you see and do.
Each week builds on previous topics, but you can join at any time! Click the video to learn more about the theme and to find meditations you may have missed.
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You can only know anything by meeting it in its precise and irreplaceable thisness and honoring it there. Each individual act of creation is a once-in-eternity choice on God’s part. (Richard Rohr)
Thursday, March 22, 2018
My friend, Sister of Saint Joseph and Professor Mary Beth Ingham, knows John Duns Scotus inside and out. Over a decade ago we spoke together at a conference in Albuquerque called Holding the Tension. Today I share her insights from Duns Scotus’ teaching of haecceity or thisness, drawn from that conference.
What is haecceity? It’s you. It’s the unique identity inherent in each being. Each one of us has been given our gift, and that’s our little “haec.” It’s what makes me, me, and not somebody else. Haec cannot be cloned. It’s the part of me that is not to be replicated.
So, I’m not just one of a kind, and you’re not just one of a kind, and we are each not just one of a kind; we are one of an eternity. No pressure! Each of us has come with a gift. And if we do not give our gift, the world misses out.
Haecceity is a term invented by Duns Scotus to capture the ineffable. It’s that which I cannot name within myself. No amount of self-help exercises will ever exhaust the mystery that is me. So, the good news is I can never figure myself out. I can always surprise myself.
Since before the foundation of the world, God has longed to be one with us. Jesus is the mutuality of God in creation. The incarnation is God’s presence in our world—not an event of the past. The incarnation is still going on in our lives. And our vocation is to join God’s dynamic, incarnate energy in the world and to be that presence wherever we find ourselves.
Duns Scotus writes: “You ask me, what is this haec? What is this thing from which the individual difference is taken? Is it matter or form or the composite? I give you this answer: . . . It’s just this.” [1]
You’re just yourself. Live with it. Here I am. I’m just me and all I can do is be me. That’s the only thing I can do, and I can do it better than anybody else. If I don’t do it, nobody will do it. So often we spend our lives trying to be other people. Yet God says, “I made you, and I like the you I’ve made, so just do your best and be yourself, and I’ll be there to help you.” It’s not something we have to do alone, but something we grow into.
Allan Wolter [a Franciscan theologian and philosopher] said that haecceity invests each person with a unique value as one singularly wanted and loved by God, quite apart from any trait that person shares with anybody else, or any contribution he or she might make to society. Haecceity is our personal gift from God. [2] Part of our vocation is to appreciate ourselves as the pearl of great price—because God does. We get to discover ourselves as the treasure in the field and to rejoice with God in the wondrous work that God does in each of our lives (Matthew 13:44-46), quite independent of any contribution we might make to society, any quantitative way of measuring.
Gateway to Presence: If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
***
[1] John Duns Scotus, Ordinatio II, d. 3, no. 187-188. See William M. Frank and Allan Wolter, Duns Scotus: Metaphysician (Purdue University Press: 1995), 185.[2] John Duns Scotus, Early Oxford Lecture on Individuation, trans. and intro. by Allan Wolter (New York: The Franciscan Institute, 2005), xxi.
Mary Beth Ingham, Holding the Tension: The Power of Paradox, disc 5 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2007), CD, MP3 download.
***
Thank you for being part of CAC’s contemplative community. You are one of 283,004 readers worldwide (as of March 2018).
News from the CAC
Essential Teachings on Love
We are delighted to commemorate Father Richard’s 75th birthday with a new book in collaboration with Orbis Books. Drawing largely from his 2016 Daily Meditations, this collection shares many of Richard’s core teachings on Love. Interwoven with a personal interview, the writings illuminate a lifelong journey of growing in love—a journey open to all who are willing. Experiences from Richard’s life, both joyful and sorrowful, illustrate how the path has unfolded for him and how we each might come to know Love more intimately. Richard Rohr: Essential Teachings on Love is now available at store.cac.org.
Sharing Transformative Teachings
In lieu of gifts or greetings, we invite contributions to the Center for Action and Contemplation’s scholarship fund. (Might we suggest a gift of $75?) Thanks to your support, we are able to offer scholarships for the Living School, online courses, and conferences. You may donate securely online at cac.org/75-year-scholarship-gift or write a check (USD only), payable to CAC, and mail to PO Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195.
"Image and Likeness"
2018 Daily Meditations Theme
God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)
Richard Rohr explores places in which God’s presence has often been ignored or assumed absent. God’s “image” is our inherent identity in and union with God, an eternal essence that cannot be destroyed. “Likeness” is our personal embodiment of that inner divine image that we have the freedom to develop—or not—throughout our lives. Though we differ in likeness, the imago Dei persists and shines through all created things.
Over the course of this year’s Daily Meditations, discover opportunities to incarnate love in your unique context by unveiling the Image and Likeness of God in all that you see and do.
Each week builds on previous topics, but you can join at any time! Click the video to learn more about the theme and to find meditations you may have missed.
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations are made possible through the generosity of CAC's donors. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation.
If you would like to change how often you receive emails from CAC, click here. If you would like to change your email address, click here. Visit our Email Subscription FAQ page for more information.
You can only know anything by meeting it in its precise and irreplaceable thisness and honoring it there. Each individual act of creation is a once-in-eternity choice on God’s part. (Richard Rohr)
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