Tag Archives: ego
Flesh and Spirit
Human Bodies: Week 1 Flesh and Spirit Friday, April 6, 2018 The Apostle Paul tends to use dialectics in his writing, jockeying two seemingly opposite ideas to lead us to a deeper and third understanding. One of his most familiar dialectics is the way he speaks of flesh and spirit. Paul uses the word sarx,… Continue Reading Flesh and Spirit
Listening to Our Body
Human Bodies: Week 1 Listening to Our Body Thursday, April 5, 2018 Though we began our lives immersed in unitive, kinesthetic knowing, very quickly we begin to see the distinctions and divisions in the world. As a toddler, I learned: “I am not my mother. My mother is not me.” The developing ego sees by… Continue Reading Listening to Our Body
Falling into Mercy
Growing in Love’s Likeness Falling into Mercy Tuesday, March 27, 2018 The transition to the second half of life moves you from either/or thinking to both/and thinking: the ability to increasingly live with paradox and mystery. You no longer think in terms of win/lose, but win/win. It is a very different mind and strategy for… Continue Reading Falling into Mercy
All Things Change and Grow
Evolution All Things Change and Grow Monday, February 26, 2018 It is hard for me to understand why some Christians are so threatened by the notion of evolution. Are they not observing reality? Why this stalwart attachment to inertness? Perhaps static things appear more controllable? I suspect such resistance largely comes from our ego and… Continue Reading All Things Change and Grow
Awe and Surrender
Contemplative Consciousness Awe and Surrender Friday, January 12, 2018 To begin to see with new eyes, we must observe—and usually be humiliated by—the habitual way we encounter each and every moment. It is humiliating because we will see that we are well-practiced in just a few predictable responses. Not many of our responses are original,… Continue Reading Awe and Surrender
Letting Go of the False Self
Self-Emptying Letting Go of the False Self Tuesday, December 12, 2017 (Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe) Meister Eckhart, the German Dominican mystic (c. 1260-c.1328), said that spirituality has much more to do with subtraction than it does with addition. [1] Yet our culture, both secular and Christian, seems obsessed with addition: getting rich, becoming… Continue Reading Letting Go of the False Self
Leaving the Garden
Sin: Symptom of Separation Leaving the Garden Wednesday, August 23, 2017 Now let’s look at “The Fall,” as we usually refer to the pivotal event described in Genesis 3. The Fall is not simply something that happened in one historical moment to one archetypal couple, Adam and Eve. It happens in all moments and lives.… Continue Reading Leaving the Garden
Being Your True Self
Sin: Symptom of Separation Being Your True Self Monday, August 21, 2017 It would be absurd to suggest that someone go into a room she is already in! —Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) [1] “Sin” primarily describes a state of living outside of union, when the part poses as the Whole. It’s the loss of any… Continue Reading Being Your True Self
The Illusion of Our False Self
True Self and False Self: Week 2 The Illusion of Our False Self Tuesday, August 15, 2017 Guest writer and CAC faculty member James Finley continues exploring insights on the true self and false self that he gleaned from Thomas Merton. In the following text, Merton makes clear that the self-proclaimed autonomy of the false… Continue Reading The Illusion of Our False Self
