Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Twenty-three: "Creativity"
"The Third Way"Monday, June 4, 2018
The Christian way is to risk the attachments of love—and then keep growing in love. All of life is a lesson in learning to love more deeply and truly.
As we start trying to love, we begin to realize that we’re actually not loving very well. We are mostly meeting our own needs. The word for this is “codependency.” This kind of love is still impure and self-seeking and thus is not really love at all. So, we have to pull back and learn the great art of detachment, which is not aloofness but the purifying of attachment.
Our religion is neither solely detachment nor attachment; it’s a dance between the two. It’s neither entirely isolation, as symbolized by the desert, nor is it complete engagement, as symbolized by the city. Jesus moves back and forth between desert and city. In the city, he feels himself losing perspective, love, and center; so, Jesus goes out to the desert to discover the real again. And when Jesus is in the desert, his passionate union with the Father drives him back to the people in the city.
The creative, transformative dance between attachment and detachment is sometimes called the Third Way. It is the middle way between fight and flight, as Walter Wink describes it. [1] Some prefer to take on the world: to fight it, change it, fix it, and rearrange it. Others deny there is a problem at all. “Everything is beautiful,” they say and look the other way. Both instincts avoid holding the tension, the pain, and the essentially tragic nature of human existence.
The contemplative stance is the Third Way. We stand in the middle, neither taking the world on from another power position nor denying it for fear of the pain it will bring. We hold the hardness of reality and the suffering of the world until it transforms us, knowing that we are both complicit in evil and can participate in wholeness and holiness. Once we can stand in that third spacious way, neither directly fighting or fleeing, we are in the place of grace out of which genuine newness can come. This is where creativity and new forms of life and healing emerge.
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] See Walter Wink, Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way (Fortress Press: 2003).Adapted from Richard Rohr: Essential Teachings on Love, eds. Joelle Chase and Judy Traeger (Orbis Books: 2018), 240-241.
***
The Richard Rohr Meditation: "The Creative Mind of Christ" for Sonday, 3 June 2018 from The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Twenty-three: "Creativity"
"The Creative Mind of Christ"Sunday, June 3, 2018
God created each of us with particular gifts that we can discover and use in the service of co-creating a more whole and loving world. There are many parts of the Body of Christ; I am only one part, a “mouth.” When I first began to teach, no one was more surprised than I was that some people valued what I had to say! If I am able to speak well, it is only because somehow, by grace, God has helped me get my false self out of the way. When we are centered in our True Self we are most in touch with our creative source and most open to be a conduit of Love.
Fidelity to contemplative practice over months, years, and even a lifetime opens our hearts, minds, and bodies to the ongoing creative flow of Spirit. From our experiences of contemplation—union with Love—we can then live and work in ways that are more compassionate and healing.
We humans are creatures of habit; our brains are wired to think the same thoughts again and again like a broken record. Most of these habitual thoughts are dualistic and negative. We are obsessed with labeling things good or bad, right or wrong. Only very rarely do we change our minds about these pre-determined, fixed assumptions. Obviously, this limits our ability to be creative and think outside the box!
In contemplative practice, we refuse to identify with any one side (while still maintaining our intelligence and ability to think critically). We hold the tension of seeming conflicts and paradoxes, going beyond words to pure, open-ended experience, which has the potential to unify contradictions. This is a creative tension because when held with loving intention, something utterly new and creative can emerge.
Authentic and full knowing is subject to subject through a process of mirroring, seeing and being seen, observing reality as it is. This is the “mind of Christ” (see 1 Corinthians 2:16). It really is a different way of knowing, and you can recognize it by its gratuity, open-endedness, compassion, and by the way it is so creative and energizing in those who allow it.
Truly great thinkers and creatives take for granted that they have access to a different and larger mind. They recognize that a divine flow is already happening and that everyone can plug into it. In all cases, it is a participative kind of knowing, a being known through and not an autonomous knowing. This is how we can become co-creators with our loving Creator.
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.
***
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Just This(CAC Publishing: 2017), 38-39.***
Thank you for being part of CAC’s contemplative community. You are one of 289,248 readers worldwide (as of June 2018).
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"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. Submit an inquiry here for additional assistance.
Inspiration for this week’s banner image: Contemplation hastens the evolution of the human species. Whoever finds this out and practices it will hasten the evolutionary future of the human family. (Thomas Keating)
© 2018 | Center for Action and Contemplation
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
***
As conscious human beings, our life purpose is to be a visible expression of both the image and the likeness of God. Each of us reveals a unique facet of the divine. (Monday)
To meditate daily is to have chosen, accepted, and surrendered to a vocation. (Tuesday)
Discovering your unique gift to bring to your community is your greatest opportunity and challenge. The offering of that gift—your true self—is the most you can do to love and serve the world. And it is all the world needs. (Bill Plotkin) (Wednesday)Discernment . . . is about listening and responding to that place within us where our deepest desires align with God’s desire. (Henri Nouwen) (Thursday)Following Jesus is not a “salvation scheme” or a means of creating social order as much as it is a vocation to share the fate of God for the life of the world. (Friday)
"Practice: Being Lost"Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known. . . . (David Wagoner [1])
Earlier this year I shared an invitation from psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin to wander in nature. [2] Plotkin writes about the great gift of “finding ourselves lost,” both literally in nature and metaphorically in the midst of life’s changes. Sit with his words today and then seek out a time and place where you can be alone and allow yourself to be “lost.”
Although true solitude—alert aloneness without diversions—can be challenging, it is often the necessary gateway to our deepest passions, and the discovery of what we must do to live them. As David Whyte writes,
. . . Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you. [3]
The Wanderer learns to look deeply into the face of her aloneness and discover what truly brings her alive and what doesn’t. . . . You discover ease, inspiration, belonging, and wisdom in your own company. . . .
When wandering, there is immense value in “finding ourselves lost” because we can find something when we are lost, we can find our selves. . . . Imagine yourself lost in your career or marriage, or in the middle of your life. You have goals, a place you want to be, but you don’t know how to reach that place. Maybe you don’t know exactly what you want, you just have a vague desire for a better place. Although it may not seem like it, you are on the threshold of a great opportunity. Begin to trust that place of not knowing. Surrender to it. You’re lost. There will be grief. A cherished outcome appears to be unobtainable or undefinable. In order to make the shift from being lost to being present, admit to yourself that your goal may never be reached. Though perhaps difficult, doing so will create entirely new possibilities for fulfillment.
Surrendering fully to being lost—and this is where the art comes in—you will discover that, in addition to not knowing how to get where you had wanted to go, you are no longer so sure of the ultimate rightness of that goal. By trusting your unknowing, your old standards of progress dissolve and you become eligible to be chosen by new, larger standards, those that come not from your mind or old story or other people, but from the depths of your soul. You become attentive to an utterly new guidance system. . . . This kind of being lost and then found is one form of ego death and rebirth, one form of entering the tomb-womb of the cocoon. . . .
In order to live your soul into the world, you must continuously loosen your beliefs about who you are.
[2] See Richard Rohr’s meditation, “Wandering in Nature,” March 17, 2018, https://cac.org/the-natural-world-week-2-summary-2018-03-17/.
[3] David Whyte, “Fire in the Earth,” Fire in the Earth (Many Rivers Press: 1992), 8.
Bill Plotkin, Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche (New World Library: 2003), 234, 248-249, 263.
Image credit: Automat (detail), 1927, Edward Hopper, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa.
For Further Study:
Henri Nouwen, Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life (HarperOne: 2013)
Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation (Jossey-Bass: 2000)
Bill Plotkin, Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche (New World Library: 2003)
Richard Rohr, Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a Place of Prayer(Paulist Press: 2014)
Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi(Franciscan Media: 2014)
***
Thank you for being part of CAC’s contemplative community. You are one of 319,478 readers worldwide (as of June 2018).
News from the CAC
Richard Rohr: Essential Teachings on Love
My hope, whenever I speak or write, is to help clear away the impediments to receiving, allowing, trusting, and participating in a foundational Love. God’s love is planted inside each of us as the Holy Spirit who, according to Jesus, “will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26). Love is who you are. (Richard Rohr)
Reconnect with the ground of your being through this collection of Father Richard’s teachings and reflections on his own experience of growing in Love. Order the book at store.cac.org.
"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.
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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. Submit an inquiry here for additional assistance.
Inspiration for this week's banner image:
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
tha does not bring you alive
is too small for you. (David Whyte)
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Summary: Week Twenty-two: "Vocation"
May 27 - June 1, 2018
Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths you embody, what values you represent. (Parker Palmer) (Sunday)As conscious human beings, our life purpose is to be a visible expression of both the image and the likeness of God. Each of us reveals a unique facet of the divine. (Monday)
To meditate daily is to have chosen, accepted, and surrendered to a vocation. (Tuesday)
Discovering your unique gift to bring to your community is your greatest opportunity and challenge. The offering of that gift—your true self—is the most you can do to love and serve the world. And it is all the world needs. (Bill Plotkin) (Wednesday)Discernment . . . is about listening and responding to that place within us where our deepest desires align with God’s desire. (Henri Nouwen) (Thursday)Following Jesus is not a “salvation scheme” or a means of creating social order as much as it is a vocation to share the fate of God for the life of the world. (Friday)
"Practice: Being Lost"Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known. . . . (David Wagoner [1])
Earlier this year I shared an invitation from psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin to wander in nature. [2] Plotkin writes about the great gift of “finding ourselves lost,” both literally in nature and metaphorically in the midst of life’s changes. Sit with his words today and then seek out a time and place where you can be alone and allow yourself to be “lost.”
Although true solitude—alert aloneness without diversions—can be challenging, it is often the necessary gateway to our deepest passions, and the discovery of what we must do to live them. As David Whyte writes,
. . . Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you. [3]
The Wanderer learns to look deeply into the face of her aloneness and discover what truly brings her alive and what doesn’t. . . . You discover ease, inspiration, belonging, and wisdom in your own company. . . .
When wandering, there is immense value in “finding ourselves lost” because we can find something when we are lost, we can find our selves. . . . Imagine yourself lost in your career or marriage, or in the middle of your life. You have goals, a place you want to be, but you don’t know how to reach that place. Maybe you don’t know exactly what you want, you just have a vague desire for a better place. Although it may not seem like it, you are on the threshold of a great opportunity. Begin to trust that place of not knowing. Surrender to it. You’re lost. There will be grief. A cherished outcome appears to be unobtainable or undefinable. In order to make the shift from being lost to being present, admit to yourself that your goal may never be reached. Though perhaps difficult, doing so will create entirely new possibilities for fulfillment.
Surrendering fully to being lost—and this is where the art comes in—you will discover that, in addition to not knowing how to get where you had wanted to go, you are no longer so sure of the ultimate rightness of that goal. By trusting your unknowing, your old standards of progress dissolve and you become eligible to be chosen by new, larger standards, those that come not from your mind or old story or other people, but from the depths of your soul. You become attentive to an utterly new guidance system. . . . This kind of being lost and then found is one form of ego death and rebirth, one form of entering the tomb-womb of the cocoon. . . .
In order to live your soul into the world, you must continuously loosen your beliefs about who you are.
***
[1] Excerpt from David Wagoner, “Lost,” Poetry Magazine (July 1971), 219.[2] See Richard Rohr’s meditation, “Wandering in Nature,” March 17, 2018, https://cac.org/the-natural-world-week-2-summary-2018-03-17/.
[3] David Whyte, “Fire in the Earth,” Fire in the Earth (Many Rivers Press: 1992), 8.
Bill Plotkin, Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche (New World Library: 2003), 234, 248-249, 263.
Image credit: Automat (detail), 1927, Edward Hopper, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa.
For Further Study:
Henri Nouwen, Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life (HarperOne: 2013)
Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation (Jossey-Bass: 2000)
Bill Plotkin, Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche (New World Library: 2003)
Richard Rohr, Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a Place of Prayer(Paulist Press: 2014)
Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi(Franciscan Media: 2014)
***
Thank you for being part of CAC’s contemplative community. You are one of 319,478 readers worldwide (as of June 2018).
News from the CAC
Richard Rohr: Essential Teachings on Love
My hope, whenever I speak or write, is to help clear away the impediments to receiving, allowing, trusting, and participating in a foundational Love. God’s love is planted inside each of us as the Holy Spirit who, according to Jesus, “will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26). Love is who you are. (Richard Rohr)
Reconnect with the ground of your being through this collection of Father Richard’s teachings and reflections on his own experience of growing in Love. Order the book at store.cac.org.
"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. Submit an inquiry here for additional assistance.
Inspiration for this week's banner image:
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
tha does not bring you alive
is too small for you. (David Whyte)
© 2018 | Center for Action and Contemplation
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
***
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