Category: Christian Mysticism
Remember — the root word of humble and human is the same: humus: earth. We are dust. We are created; it is God who made us and not we ourselves. But we were made to be co-creators with our maker.
– Madeline L’Engle, Walking on Water (1995)
To Believe in God…
It’s a bright, sunny morning here in Cowtown. I’m halfway through week six of not smoking! Needless to say, I still spend my mornings at the desk rather than the porch. I amazes me how much more time I have in the mornings without having to take a cigarette break. It’s even more amazing to see the bank balance stay higher…
I was reading this morning, taking in my morning coffee, and getting ready for the day when I found the quote below. It comes from my morning meditation through the Center for Action and Contemplation. I highly recommend this morning email to everyone who seeks a deeper relationship with God. This piece was quoted in Fr. Richard Rohr’s meditation The Pain of Disconnection:
“Brazilian liberation theologian Leonardo Boff (b. 1938) writes that even the simple statement, “I believe in God,” offers us an intimate reminder that we are not alone:
To say “I believe in God” means that there is Someone who surrounds me, embraces me everywhere, and loves me, Someone who knows me better than I do myself, deep down in my heart, where not even my beloved can reach, Someone who knows the secret of all mysteries and where all roads lead. I am not alone in this open universe with all my questions for which no one offers me a satisfactory answer. That Someone is with me, and exists for me, and I exist for that Someone and in that Someone’s presence. Believing in God means saying: there exists an ultimate tenderness, an ultimate bosom, an infinite womb, in which I can take refuge and finally have peace in the serenity of love. If that is so, believing in God is worthwhile; it makes us more ourselves and empowers our humanity.” – Leonardo Boff, Holy Trinity, Perfect Community, trans. Phillip Berryman (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2000), xv–xvi.
Have a beautiful day and know that you are loved more than you can ever imagine.
“Until I discover the God in which I believe, I will never understand another thing about my own life. If my God is harsh judge, I will live in unquenchable guilt. If my God is Holy Nothingness, I will live a life of cosmic loneliness. If my God is taunt and bully, I will live my life impaled on the pin of a grinning giant. If my God is life and hope, I will live my life in fullness overflowing forever.” – Author and Benedictine sister Joan Chittister
“Life is a sacred circle. When we gather in a circle, the praying has already begun. When we gather in a circle, we communicate with each other and with Great Mystery, even without a word being spoken.” – Randy Woodley, Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth (Broadleaf Books: 2022), 63–64. Book available on January 4, 2022. Used with permission.
Once again I let a holiday go by without stopping to honor our Indigenous Peoples. I was delighted to find this meditation from Fr. Rohr and the above quote. I encourage you all to read the full story at https://cac.org/sacred-circles-2021-10-13/.
I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite Harry Chapin songs “Circle”
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