Tag Archives: failure
Becoming Wise Fools
Wisdom Becoming Wise Fools Friday, February 26, 2021 Those who will lead into the future will have some hard-won wisdom. We might call them the “holy fools.” By the holy fool I mean what the Bible and mythic literature have always presented as the “savior.” They are persons who are happily, but not naïvely, innocent… Continue Reading Becoming Wise Fools
From Innocence to Knowledge
Order, Disorder, Reorder: Part One From Innocence to Knowledge Tuesday, August 11, 2020 Many Christians look to the Garden of Eden as the ultimate example of Order. While we can certainly mourn the suffering, it doesn’t do us any good to regret “the Fall.” It had to happen; failure is part of the deal! If… Continue Reading From Innocence to Knowledge
Universal Consciousness
Twelve-Step Spirituality: Part Two Universal Consciousness Tuesday, December 17, 2019 Step Ten: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. [1] Wisely, Step Ten does not emphasize a moral inventory, which becomes too self-absorbed and self-critical, but it speaks of a “personal inventory.” In other words, just watch yourself objectively, calmly, and compassionately. You will… Continue Reading Universal Consciousness
Divine Therapy
Twelve-Step Spirituality: Part Two Divine Therapy Sunday, December 15, 2019 Step Six: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Step Seven: Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings. [1] Thomas Keating (1923–2018), one of the founders of Contemplative Outreach which promotes the practice of Centering Prayer, explained how meditation is… Continue Reading Divine Therapy
Accountability Is Sustainability
Twelve-Step Spirituality: Part One Accountability Is Sustainability Friday, December 13, 2019 Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. [1] So confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, and this will cure you. —James 5:16 Both Christianity and the Twelve Steps… Continue Reading Accountability Is Sustainability
Shadowboxing
Shadow Work Shadowboxing Sunday, September 8, 2019 Our shadow self is any part of ourselves or our institutions that we try to hide or deny because it seems socially unacceptable. The church and popular media primarily focus on sexuality and body issues as our “sinful” shadow, but that is far too narrow a definition. The… Continue Reading Shadowboxing
The Myth of Transgression
Sin: Symptom of Separation The Myth of Transgression Thursday, August 24, 2017 First the fall, and then the recovery from the fall, and both are the mercy of God. —Julian of Norwich (c. 1343–c. 1416) [1] It is in falling down that we learn almost everything that matters spiritually. As many of the parables seem… Continue Reading The Myth of Transgression
We Come to God by Doing It Wrong
The Path of Descent We Come to God by Doing It Wrong Thursday, August 3, 2017 Jesus’ story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) and his story of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) are both wonderful illustrations of how Jesus turns a spirituality of climbing, achieving, and perfection upside down. In both… Continue Reading We Come to God by Doing It Wrong
Path of Descent: Weekly Summary
Path of Descent Summary: Sunday, October 16-Friday, October 21, 2016 The pattern of down and up, loss and renewal, enslavement and liberation, exile and return, transformation through darkness and suffering is quite clear in the Hebrew Scriptures, and Jesus evidently sees himself as representing this pattern. (Sunday) Rather than look for impressive apparitions or miracles,… Continue Reading Path of Descent: Weekly Summary