Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Seventeen: "Gender and Sexuality"
"Union: The Foundation and Goal"Monday, April 23, 2018
We two being one, are it. –John Donne [1]
Even as we acknowledge the sacredness of gender and sex, we also need to realize that there’s something deeper than our gender, anatomy, or physical passion: our ontological self, who we are forever in Christ. As Paul courageously puts it, “There is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Those who have already begun to experience their divine union will usually find it very easy to be compassionate toward people who are not like them because they know they share the same essential self that is “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
For all of the beauty and power of sexuality, it is still under the rubric of the floating or passing self, rather than the Self eternally anchored in God. I believe our gender is going to pass away when we do. I think that’s what Jesus is referring to when he says, “The children of this world take wives and husbands . . . but in heaven there will be no marriage or giving in marriage” (see all of Luke 20:34-37). Our personality and physicality are gates to the temple—the place of union. We often confuse the gates of embodiment with the temple itself. In the end, there is only universal love where “God will be God in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Both sexuality and gender are mysteries much broader than genitality and intercourse. It is an inner drive toward the other and beyond the small self, which some call eros. Someone can be celibate and still experience this pull to give oneself to another. Someone can be genital and be totally self-absorbed, which is not eros at all, but “lustful.”
A good intimate relationship takes away our existential anxiety. Even without any touching, true intimacy overcomes our feeling of separateness: “I’m not attractive; I’m not believable; I’m not credible; I’m not. . . .” is our desperate and disparate state. Once someone affirms that we’re lovable, that we’re even enough for them, and once we begin to deeply trust ourselves, then we can enter the gates of the temple and discover what we also desire, which is agape, or divine love. Agape is much more inclusive and all-embracing than eros. But agape builds on eros and even deepens eros because it hugely expands our sense of “Self.” Agape love transcends and includes all other true loves.
Spirituality and sexuality are two sides of one coin. They’re both a gift. One without the other might be mistrusted. But together they give us the capacity, not just to make love to another person, but to make love to God, no matter which relationship comes first. Sexuality and spirituality emerge from the same foundation and have the same goal: universal love.
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 Donne, “The Canonization,” The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne, ed. Charles M. Coffin (Modern Library: 1994), 14.Adapted from Richard Rohr, God As Us! The Sacred Feminine and the Sacred Masculine, discs 1-3, 5, and 6 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2011), DVD, CD, MP3 download.
Image credit: Study of a Boy Turning His Head (detail), Jacopo Pontormo, c. 1529, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
***
Thank you for being part of CAC’s contemplative community. You are one of 285,245 readers worldwide (as of April 2018).
News from the CAC
A Gift for You to Share
Thank you for making our contemplative community part of your life! More than 285,000 people around the world join us every day to awaken a more loving world. What a powerful force of compassion we can be!
Do you know someone you’d like to introduce to Richard Rohr or who is seeking freedom from negative thoughts and unhealthy attachments? Invite a friend to listen to one of Fr. Richard’s classic, introductory talks, “Emotional Sobriety,” by sharing this link: cac.org/free-emotional-sobriety-gift. If you haven’t heard this teaching yet, you can enjoy it too—our gift to you!
"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.
We hope that reading these messages is a contemplative, spiritual practice for you. Learn about contemplative prayer and other forms of meditation. For frequently asked questions—such as what versions of the Bible Father Richard recommends or how to ensure you receive every meditation—please see our email FAQ.
Feel free to share meditations on social media. Go to CAC’s Facebook page or Twitter feed and find today’s post. Or use the “Forward” button above to send via email.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.
Inspiration for this week's banner image: If Jesus shows us what the completed human being looks like in male form, Mary Magdalene models it for us in its female version; together they become the Christosophia, the androgynous archetype of human wholeness. (Cynthia Bourgeault)
© 2018 | Center for Action and Contemplation
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
***
No comments:
Post a Comment