God-in-Me Loving God Sunday, June 29, 2014 Last year I had the honor of representing the Christian tradition at the Festival of Faiths in Louisville, Kentucky. Leaders of many faiths, including the Dalai Lama, came together to talk about the role of compassion in our spiritual practice. The following is what I shared from the Christian perspective: The Christian who has gone to his or her own depths—not all of us, I am afraid—uncovers an Indwelling Presence, what might even be experienced as an I-Thou relationship (to use the language of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber). In Christian theology this would be described as the Holy Spirit, which is precisely God as immanent, within, and even our deepest self. Some saints and mystics have described this Presence as closer to me than I am to myself or more me than I am myself. Many of us would also describe this as the True Self. It must be awakened; it is never created by our actions or behavior, but naturally indwelling, or our inner being with God. Much of culture and religion encourages us to cultivate our False Self or reputation, self-image, roles, and possessions. It is only as this fails us, and it eventually does, that the True Self stands revealed and ready to guide us. The True Self does not teach us compassion as much as it IS compassion already, and from this more spacious and grounded Self we can naturally connect, empathize, forgive, and love all reality. In Christian language this is God-in-me-loving-God. The False Self does not know how to love in a very deep or broad way. It is too small and self-referential to be compassionate. The True Self also does not choose to love as much as it IS love itself already. Loving from this spacious place is experienced as a river within you that flows of its own accord, as Jesus promises us so beautifully (John 7:38). Fr. Richard Rohr Adapted from Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation, pp. 46‑48 Gateway to Silence: May I see with eyes of compassion...
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 18:29:42 +0000
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