Tag Archives: identity
Theosis
Eastern Christianity Theosis Wednesday, September 12, 2018 The Orthodox teaching of divinization, or theosis, according to Pope John Paul II, is perhaps the greatest gift of the Eastern Church to the West, but one that has largely been ignored or even denied. [1] The Eastern fathers of the Church believed that we could experience real and transformative… Continue Reading Theosis
Unitive Consciousness
Taoism and Buddhism Unitive Consciousness Wednesday, August 22, 2018 Paul Knitter, a theologian and colleague of mine from my days in Cincinnati, wrote an insightful book called Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian. In it, he explains that Buddhism teaches “practices that will help Christians draw on the mystical contents of our faith. Buddhism can… Continue Reading Unitive Consciousness
Walking toward Heaven
Justice: Week 2 Walking toward Heaven Thursday, June 21, 2018 Summer Solstice Yesterday I explored the fundamental importance of discovering and living out of our True Self, our imago Dei, the image of God that we are. In the Center for Action and Contemplation’s most recent edition of Oneing, “Anger,” actor, filmmaker, writer, and personal… Continue Reading Walking toward Heaven
Swallowed by a Whale
Vocation Swallowed by a Whale Wednesday, May 30, 2018 The gift you carry for others is not an attempt to save the world but to fully belong to it. It’s not possible to save the world by trying to save it. You need to find what is genuinely yours to offer the world before you… Continue Reading Swallowed by a Whale
Who Am I?
Vocation Who Am I? Monday, May 28, 2018 Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. —Dr. Howard Thurman (1899-1981), theologian and civil rights leader [1] As conscious human beings, our life purpose is to be… Continue Reading Who Am I?
Collective Consciousness
Relationships Collective Consciousness Friday, May 4, 2018 The dynamic relationships in a family, classroom, workplace, or grassroots movement can have an evolutionary effect, creating new ways of thinking and being. Louis Savary and Patricia Berne share how Christopher Bache, a college professor, noticed what he called “collective consciousness” emerge when he gave assignments to small… Continue Reading Collective Consciousness
The Essential Self and the Passing Self
Gender and Sexuality: Week 1 The Essential Self and the Passing Self Wednesday, April 18, 2018 As I shared in my meditations on human bodies the last two weeks, Western Christianity owes our separation of body and spirit to Greek philosophy much more than to Scripture or Jesus. Social psychologist Diarmuid O’Murchu suggests that Plato… Continue Reading The Essential Self and the Passing Self
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
Bodily Knowing
Human Bodies: Week 1 Bodily Knowing Wednesday, April 4, 2018 (50th Anniversary of the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.) If you lose hope, somehow you lose that vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of all. And so today I still… Continue Reading Bodily Knowing
The Further Journey
Growing in Love’s Likeness The Further Journey Wednesday, March 28, 2018 The journey into the second half of our own lives awaits us all. Yet not everyone embarks or continues on the journey, even though most of us get older. The “further journey” seems to be a well-kept secret. Many people do not even know… Continue Reading The Further Journey
