More from Richard Rohr on the place of suffering and prayer in our life journeys.
We cannot be timid about this clear teaching of Jesus after centuries of Christians fighting over their formulations and rituals while unable or unwilling to see God in one another, in other races, in other religions, in the poor, in the earth, in the weak in every form. We cannot be timid about this clear teaching of Jesus after centuries of Christians unable to hear God in the pain of their enemies, in the suffering of the other, in the "paganism" of those whom they colonized and killed in the name of God.
It seems like we use the name of Jesus as a way to help us disconnect from others. If we are so focused on our own lives...our own salvation...having other people become like us - even have our "faith," we will never hear how fully God calls out to us from the lives of those who are not like us. When this notion of following Jesus becomes nothing more than a self-satisfying, self-preserving trip, how do we begin to enjoy and experience the vast expanse of God's Reign that is beyond our attempts to control it all? It seems as though we are so fixed on digging up differences - especially those that we can label as damnable - that we miss the glory and the blessedness within those differences that open our eyes to God's Reign and open our ears to the various ways God speaks word of new life to us. I can be so...so...self-focused and in need of control or order as I like it, that I don't take the time to breath and relax and listen again - prayerfully - to the other side and the other voices of God's living Reign.
Connection: Some times it is good to simply give it up...and go along with another side for awhile. Yes, it may be painful...but it may also be a blessing that opens up our lives.
Lord of Life, continue to be the wind that takes away our breath and enables us to take in your Spirit of life. Amen.
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