God as Us: Week 1
Summary: Sunday, November 5-Friday, November 10, 2017
The divine DNA is in everyone and everything God has created “from the beginning.” As humans, we are graced with the capacity to realize this, fully enjoy it, and draw mightily from it. (Sunday)
When we call something sacred, we normally mean that it connects us directly to the divine, to the transcendent, to our soul, or quite simply to God. (Monday)
“When John writes that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us as Jesus, he could just as well have said that Sophia became flesh and dwelt among us as Jesus. Jesus is the Wisdom/Sophia of God incarnate.” —Marcus Borg (Tuesday)
“Christianity is not about avoiding punishment or gaining reward. It is about loving God and loving what God loves. And what God loves is the whole of creation.” —Marcus Borg (Wednesday)
You are beyond the metaphor of male and female; you are a child of the Resurrection, a creature of Eternal Life. As Paul courageously puts it, “There is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Thursday)
In the end, the object and goal of all spirituality is finally the same for all genders: union, divine love, inner aliveness, soul abundance, and generous service to the neighbor and the world. (Friday)
Practice: Being Desired
As James Finley shared several weeks ago, Teresa of Ávila experienced and thus knew intimacy with God. She saw all of life as a journey toward consummation with the Beloved. Meditatively read this poem inspired by Teresa of Ávila, written by Daniel Ladinsky, and imagine yourself as the object of God’s (“Her”) desire:
She desired me so I came close.
No one can hear God unless She has
prepared a bed for
you.
A thousand souls hear Her call every second,
but most every one then looks into their life’s mirror and
says, “I am not worthy to leave this
sadness.”
When I first heard Her courting song, I too
looked at all I had done in my life
and said,
“How can I gaze into Her omnipresent eyes?”
I spoke those words with all
my heart,
But then She sang again, a song even sweeter,
and when I tried to shame myself once more from Her presence
God showed me Her compassion and spoke a divine truth,
“I made you, dear, and all I made is perfect.
Please come close, for I
desire
you.”
Gateway to Silence:
I am created in God’s image.
Reference:
Daniel Ladinsky, “He Desired Me So I Came Close,” Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West (Penguin Compass: 2002), 274. Used with permission. “He” and “His” changed to “She” and “Her.”
For Further Study:
Richard Rohr, Gate of the Temple: Spirituality and Sexuality (Center for Action and Contemplation: 1991), CD, MP3 download
Cynthia Bourgeault and Richard Rohr, God as Us! The Sacred Feminine and the Sacred Masculine, (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2011), CD, DVD, MP3 download
