Tag Archives: cross
Transforming our Pain
Wounded Healers Transforming our Pain Friday, September 18, 2020 If I were to name the Christian religion, I would probably call it “The Way of the Wound.” Jesus agrees to be the Wounded One, and we Christians are these strange believers in a wounded healer. We come to God not through our strength but through our… Continue Reading Transforming our Pain
God Uses Everything
Wounded Healers God Uses Everything Monday, September 14, 2020 Feast of the Triumph of the Cross The genius of Jesus’ ministry is that he embraces tragedy, suffering, pain, betrayal, and death itself to bring us to God. There are no dead ends. Everything can be transmuted, and everything can be used. Everything. It seems that everybody… Continue Reading God Uses Everything
A Mystic for Our Times
Julian of Norwich A Mystic for Our Times Sunday, May 10, 2020 Recently I have again been reading Lady Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), one of my all-time favorite mystics. Each time I return to her writings, I always find something new. Julian experienced her sixteen visions, or “showings” as she called them, all on one… Continue Reading A Mystic for Our Times
Lesson Five: Nothing Can Come Between Us
Reality Initiating Us: Part Two Lesson Five: Nothing Can Come Between Us Friday, April 10, 2020 Good Friday It is true that you are going to die, and yet “I am certain of this, neither death nor life, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, not any height nor depth, nor any… Continue Reading Lesson Five: Nothing Can Come Between Us
Lesson One: Life Is Hard
Reality Initiating Us: Part One Lesson One: Life Is Hard Monday, March 30, 2020 You have to be sick and tired of being sick and tired before recovery can begin. —Twelve Step Wisdom All great spirituality is about what we do with our pain. Creation has a pattern of wisdom; and we dare not shield… Continue Reading Lesson One: Life Is Hard
Suffering in Solidarity
The Path of Descent Suffering in Solidarity Sunday, March 22, 2020 I am not alone in my tiredness or sickness or fears, but at one with millions of others from many centuries, and it is all part of life. —Etty Hillesum [1] The “cross,” rightly understood, always reveals various kinds of resurrection. It’s as if God were holding… Continue Reading Suffering in Solidarity
The Suffering of God
Oneness The Suffering of God Sunday, September 22, 2019 I am not alone in my tiredness or sickness or fears, but at one with millions of others from many centuries, and it is all part of life. —Etty Hillesum [1] Just days before I began writing my book about the Universal Christ, I learned that… Continue Reading The Suffering of God
Doing the Victim Thing Right
Jesus’ Death Doing the Victim Thing Right Tuesday, April 16, 2019 The deep-time message of Jesus’ death is presented through a confluence of three healing images from his own Hebrew Scriptures: the scapegoat whom we talked about on Sunday; the Passover lamb which is the innocent victim (Exodus 12); the “Lifted-Up One” or the homeopathic… Continue Reading Doing the Victim Thing Right
Savior of the World
Jesus’ Death Savior of the World Monday, April 15, 2019 Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 15:57 How does Jesus the victim transform us? How does the lamb of God “take away” our sin (John 1:29), to use the common metaphor? How does Jesus “overcome… Continue Reading Savior of the World
The Scapegoat
Jesus’ Death The Scapegoat Sunday, April 14, 2019 Palm Sunday The ingenious Hebrew ritual from which the word “scapegoat” originated is described in Leviticus 16. On the Day of Atonement, a priest laid hands on an “escaping” goat, placing all the sins of the Jewish people from the previous year onto the animal. The goat… Continue Reading The Scapegoat
