Everything Belongs by Hopeful Universalist Richard Rohr

[St_Michael]

I’ve been reading a revised and updated version of the Franciscan Friar and priest Richard Rohr’s book “Everything Belongs”. Very good book that talks of non-duality and surrendered trust with gratitude. In the chapter “Ego and Soul” he gives some fantastic information about poverty or being poor in spirit and living in the present moment.

Being nothing has a glorious tradition. When we are nothing, we are in a position to receive everything from God. If we look at the great religious traditions, we see they use those words. The Franciscan word would be poverty. The Carmelite word would be nada, nihil - “nothingness”. The Buddhists speak of emptiness…I must be “nothing” in order to be open to all reality and new reality. page 77

This is the example Jesus gave us to follow when He emptied Himself and became nothing:

he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Phil. 2:7-8

The present moment has no competition; it is not judged in comparison to any other. page 64

This has been my experience as well. The chapter also talks of the priority of contemplation. I’m going through it at the moment and will keep you updated. It’s great so far.

[Holy-Fool-P-Zombie]

I like Richard Rohr a lot. And I receive his daily email reflections from cac.org/ I’ll have to check out that book sometime.

[St_Michael]

It’s fantastic Zombie. Easy to understand and grasp.

[maintenanceman]

Big https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRxRyF_ctVJyUtEH9FTHSdIW5Fk_SD8_mGuq1KjKKKMp0tUhR0_IQ on Richard Rohr Check out some of his talks/sermons…

[St_Michael]

Here’s an article on the true self/false self by Rohr. He quotes Marianne Williamson from “A Course In Miracles” in her book "Return to love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles” . He’s a partner and fan of Williamson. The kind of power they are referring to is the power of love. Not worldly power. It’s like the scripture when I am week then I’m strong. I’ve read the book by Williamson “Return to Love” that Rohr references in the article and can say it has some good insights.

cac.org/you-are-the-imago-dei-2016-07-31/

You Are the “Imago Dei”

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Searching for and rediscovering the True Self is the fundamentum, the essential task that will gradually open us to receiving and giving love to God, others, and ourselves. Grace builds on nature; it does not avoid or destroy nature. You are created in the image of God from the very beginning (Genesis 1:26-27, Ephesians 1:3-4).

You (and every other created thing) begin with your unique divine DNA, an inner destiny as it were, an absolute core that knows the truth about you, a true believer tucked away in the cellar of your being, an imago Dei that begs to be allowed, to be fulfilled, and to show itself. “You were chosen in Christ before the world was made—to stand before God in love—marked out beforehand as fully adopted sons and daughters” (see Ephesians 1:4-5). This is your True Self. Historically, it was often called “the soul.”

Jesus revealed and accepted a paradox in his entire being: human and divine are not separate, but one, his life shouted! I wonder why we so resist our destiny? For most of us, this seems just too good and too dangerous to be true. There is so much contrary evidence! Many clergy fight me on this, even though it is quite constant in the Tradition. Is it because we are afraid to bear the burden of divinity? As Marianne Williamson says: “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” [1] I would say that it is precisely the divine part of you that is great enough, deep enough, gracious enough to fully accept the human part of you. If you are merely human, you will tend to reject your embarrassingly limited humanity. Think on that!

Maybe we realize subconsciously that if we really recognized our True Self—which is the Divine Indwelling, the Holy Spirit within us—if we really believed that we are temples of God (see 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16), then we would have to live up to it. I am certainly afraid to own—and fully draw upon—that kind of dignity, such deep freedom, and such infinite love.

Paradoxically, immense humility, not arrogance, characterizes someone who lives in this True Self. You simultaneously know you are a son or daughter of God, but you also know that you didn’t earn it and you are not worthy of it. You know it’s entirely a gift (see Ephesians 2:8-9 and throughout the Pauline writings). All you can do is thank Somebody Else, occasionally weep with joy, and kneel without any hesitation.
The single and true purpose of mature religion is to lead you to ever new experiences of your True Self. If religion does not do this, it is junk religion. Every Sacrament, every Bible story, every church service, every sermon, every hymn, every bit of priesthood, ministry, or liturgy is for one purpose: to allow you to experience your True Self—who you are in God and who God is in you—and to live a generous life from that Infinite Source.

Gateway to Silence:

You live in me; I live in you.

References:

[1] Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles” (HarperCollins: 1992), 190.

Adapted from Richard Rohr, True Self/ False Self (Franciscan Media: 2003, 2013), disc 1 and handout (CD); and

Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self (Jossey-Bass: 2013), 17.

Posted in Daily Meditations | Also tagged 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Divine Indwelling, DNA, Ephesians 1:3-4,

Ephesians 1:4-5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Genesis 1:26-27, Holy Spirit, Marianne Williamson, True Self

[Holy-Fool-P-Zombie]

Michael talks in this thread, about Roman Catholic priest - Fr. Richard Rohr - as a universalist. I chiefly like him, for his contemplation and mystical theological email reflections at cac.org/. But I did dig up, an old Pathoes article on him:

Three Reasons I Am a Christian Universalist

But the article does express his ideas, which are food for thought:

How does that happen? I don’t pretend to know. How long will it take? Again, I have no idea about that either. I see life as evolutionary, developmental, and progressive. Therefore, I am not dismissive of divine judgment in the life to come, though I see that judgment as corrective, restorative, and redemptive, not punitive and retributive. Whatever divine judgment involves (and once again, I don’t pretend to know), I believe its aim is to bring about repentance and conversion.

I must also concede that while I believe that eventually all persons will repent and be transformed into loving, compassionate, caring persons, there is also the possibility that not every person can be saved/transformed/healed/made whole. It is a cooperative effort. We must participate in our healing and liberation. And as long as we are free to choose, there is always the possibility that a person may never choose the good. I allow for that possibility, but I believe that everyone will eventually see the light. Hence, I am a hopeful universalist, not a dogmatic one.

But just a brief clarification. Rohr is a hopeful universalist:

So, what are the three reasons I am a hopeful universalist?

[St_Michael]

Thanks Zombie. I thought he was a universalist.

[St_Michael]

“Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps” is a real good one by Rohr. It’s on the “Twelve Steps” of A.A. Richard believes that Bill Wilson was inspired by God and he takes the reader through each of the steps showing how the Jesus of the Bible taught the exact same principles. Rohr is correct in this. The principles of the steps that were designed to deflate the ego or false self had their origin in an underground Christian group called "The Oxford Group. Bill did leave it open though to all so that they could choose their own higher power. Nonetheless this is another excellent book by Rohr. Here’s the review from Amazon:

We are all addicted in some way. When we learn to identify our addiction, embrace our brokenness, and surrender to God, we begin to bring healing to ourselves and our world. In Breathing Under Water, Richard Rohr shows how the gospel principles in the Twelve Steps can free anyone from any addiction—from an obvious dependence on alcohol or drugs to the more common but less visible addiction that we all have to sin.

[St_Michael]

Richard Rohr – Surrendering in Stillness

stjohnsquamish.ca/richard-rohr-surrendering-in-stillness/

Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation

Luminous Darkness

Surrendering in Stillness

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Mirabai Starr, who will be joining us for CONSPIRE 2015 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, writes of the dark night as one who has gone through it herself, like John of the Cross:

“The dark night descends on a soul only when everything else has failed. When you are no longer the best meditator in the class because your meditation produces absolutely nothing. When prayer evaporates on your tongue and you have nothing left to say to God. When you are not even tempted to return to a life of worldly pleasures because the world has proven empty and yet taking another step through the void of the spiritual life feels futile because you are no good at it and it seems that God has given up on you, anyway.

“This, says John, is the beginning of blessedness! This is the choiceless choice when the soul can do nothing but surrender. Because even if you cannot sense a shred of the Beloved’s love for you, even if you can scarcely conjure up your old passion for him, it has become perfectly clear that you are incapable of doing anything on your own to remedy your spiritual brokenness. All efforts to purge your unspiritual inclinations have only honed the laser of attention on the false self. Unwilling to keep struggling, the soul finds itself surrendering to its deepest inner wound and breathing in the stillness there.

“The only action left to the soul, ultimately, is to put down its self-importance and cultivate a simple loving attention toward the Beloved. That’s when the Beloved takes over and all our holy intentions vaporize. That’s when the soul, says John, is infused passively with his love. Though his radiance is imperceptible to the faculty of the senses and invisible to the faculty of the intellect, the soul that has allowed itself to be empty can at last be filled and overflow with him.”

From Mirbai Starr’s introduction to her translation of Dark Night of the Soul
by John of the Cross

Gateway to Silence:
“Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover.” – John of the Cross

[St_Michael]

[tag]Holy-Fool-P-Zombie[/tag] I just found out I’m a “holy fool” according to Richard Rohr in “Everything Belongs”

God seems to be so ready to surrender divine power. God forgives us for not being all that we thought we had to be and even for what God wanted us to be. That is probably why we fall in love with such a God. Why wouldn’t you? You would be a fool not to - and you will be a “holy fool” if you do.

page 153

[anon12438761]

No fooling? Now there’s 2???

[maintenanceman]

[Holy-Fool-P-Zombie]

No fooling? Now there’s 2???

Excellent. We should dedicate a song to this.

[davo]

You two fools…

[Holy-Fool-P-Zombie]

And here’s some Holy Fool humor today, from Sunil Bali at sunilbali.com/2017/12/giorgio-armani-on-being-remembered/

My son said, I’m going to be a chimney sweep….. I said soot yourself.
Insomnia is awful. But on the plus side, only three sleeps till Xmas.
A man has been shot with a starter pistol, police thinks it’s race related.

[anon12438761]

Pre-rinse