Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Summary: Week Twenty "Art"
May 13 - May 18, 2018
Our divine DNA carries the creative impulse of the Creator. Even if you don’t consider yourself creative or artistic, it is an inherent part of your being. (Sunday)Perhaps, like the prophetic mystics of all traditions, the great artists of each generation can help us transcend our dualisms and move us beyond the exclusionary frameworks that are comfortable for us . . . if we have the ears to hear or the eyes to see and the willingness to engage! (Monday)One person, symbol, or idea can set the course of history and its meaning in one direction instead of another. We recognize some individuals who “turn” history, art, music, and politics in new and unimagined ways. Picasso did this for painting, Martha Graham and Michael Jackson did the same for dance, and Einstein did it for physics and cosmology. (Tuesday)
Art and contemplation lead us to wonder, but first they perplex us. Mature spiritual leaders make room for and welcome the prophetic—the challenging, new, and unexpected—even while holding onto the essentials of our wisdom traditions. (Wednesday)
Art can amplify the sacred and challenge the status quo. The arts help us to hear above the cacophony and pause in the midst of our multitasking. The arts engage a sacred frequency that is perforated with pauses. (Barbara Holmes) (Thursday)
The power of imagination and art is at the level of soul, where we do not consciously know what is happening. Therefore, we cannot engineer it, do not need to understand it, nor can we fully stop its effects! (Friday)
"Practice: Visio Divina"
The imagination works through suggestion, not description. Description is always direct and frequently closes off what it names. Suggestion respects the mystery and richness of a thing. All it offers are clues to its nature. Suggestion keeps the mystery open and extends us the courtesy of inviting us to see the thing for ourselves. It offers us the hospitality and freedom to trust the integrity of our own encounter with a thing. This is how a work of art can allow itself to be seen in so many different and often conflicting ways. It does not foreclose on the adventure of revelation. (John O’Donohue [1])
Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler offers a wonderful invitation into visio divina (or sacred seeing). I invite you to use the image for this week’s meditations, at the top of this message, as a window into your own soul and the Divine.
Visio Divina facilitates a relationship with an image or subject, patiently being with it, receptive in mind and heart, perhaps even in dialogue with it. In stillness, we allow the image to reach beyond the intellect and into the unconscious level of our being, a place that can't be accessed directly. In wonder, we are invited to look at every aspect of an image and ponder it as an encounter with God. It is a way of seeing an aspect of ourselves in God at the non-verbal, heart level. The canvas then becomes alive with personal meaning meant just for us. This is the same movement of the Spirit we can experience with Lectio Divina and Scripture.
Take the time to gaze at an image and allow it to speak to you, first on the level of what is seen with the eyes of your rational mind, the literal details of the image. When you are ready, allow those sights and thoughts to pass by, making space for the inner eye of the heart to open and interact with the image. You may wish to sketch the image and experience your own non-verbal response. You do not have to be an artist to do this—you simply follow the lines as you see them, tracing them on paper. Or, you may trace the image with your finger, or both. Be patient. Stay with your experience. Settle in and rest in the presence of the image. See beyond seeing and allow the image to speak its truth to you. You may also journal, and/or use these questions to inspire your reflections: How does this image inform or illume your relationship with God? How does it speak to you of your spiritual journey now? How does this experience support your willingness to be opened, to be healed?
[1] John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (HarperCollins: 2004), 147-148.
Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler, “The Practice of Visio Divina: Seeing with the Eye of the Heart,” Contemplative Outreach News, vol. 31, no. 2 (2015), 2-3, https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/sites/default/files/newsletter-pdf/2015-june-newsletter.pdf.
Image credit: Composition VIII (detail), Wassily Kandinsky, 1923, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, New York.
***
For Further Study:Barbara A. Holmes, Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church, second edition (Fortress Press: 2017)
John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (HarperCollins: 2004)
Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (Franciscan Media: 2014)
Leonard Shlain, Art and Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light (William Morrow Paperbacks: 2007)
Richard Rohr and Friends, Contemplation in Action (The Crossroad Publishing Company: 2006)
***
Thank you for being part of CAC’s contemplative community. You are one of 316,764 readers worldwide (as of May 2018).
News from the CAC
CONSPIRE 2018: The Path of Descent Is the Path of Transformation
Failure, relapse, death, and woundedness are our primary teachers, rather than ideas or doctrines.
The in-person conference is full, but we hope you’ll join the online webcast with Richard Rohr, Barbara Holmes, Mirabai Starr, Barbara Brown Taylor, Brian McLaren, and thousands of co-conspirators around the world! Watch live (August 31-September 2) or later.
Learn more and register at cac.org/conspire2018.
"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: The power of imagination and art is at the level of soul, where we do not consciously know what is happening. Therefore, we cannot engineer it, do not need to understand it, nor can we fully stop its effects! (Richard Rohr)
© 2018 | Center for Action and Contemplation
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
***
No comments:
Post a Comment