Most every day there is available from Richard Rohr a daily thought, prayer, meditation. It comes from the Center For Action and Contemplation. It is sometimes more impactful than others but they are all good. The address is http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/ . Of late I've been riding my bike on the path along Bear Creek. It is a good form of exercise but is also very connected to the birds, butterflies and all in the wetlands. And yes the other bugs and pollen as well. Everytime I find a butterfly in my path I remember the 100 or so we released at Sherita's memorial. A great example of trancendance and connectedness of nature and spirit and our human nature. Several of Richard's tidbits are especially lush statements of this reality as well. I will quote a few of them here but I will suggest signing up for his insights on a regular basis.
"Nature itself is the primary Bible; the world "as is" is the primary locus of the sacred.
Notice that Paul is not saying that Revelation started when the Bible was written. No, revelation started at the moment of creation, what we now call the Big Bang; and the primary Bible is reality, what is! The written Bible has only existed in a nanosecond of geologic history, and a very small part of human history.
Do you really think God had nothing to say until the last nanosecond--that God was completely quiet until we wrote the Bible? And we did. I'm not saying that it isn't inspired, but we wrote it, so we are more at home with something we wrote than with what God wrote in creation.
We are given a natural way to reconnect with God every day in creation. And it doesn't depend on getting a degree in philosophy or theology. It depends on being present!" (The Soul, The Natural World, and What Is, R.Rohr).
Of course, as with most things, there is a need for balance. There is no question, in my opinion, that the cognative reflection inherant in the areas of Language, Symbology, Art and Music truely are the most obvious traits we possess as being created "in the image of God". In his latest book, Falling Upward, Richard relates the balance between the two "halves" of life as being the best goal of a transcending being. I am begining to see that on a larger scale that transcendance could be in the offering for the whole of the human race. Maybe with the grace of God one day soon may see that tipping point toward a more Loving relationship with all beings within creation!
In another "Daily Meditation" Richard speaks of another philosopher, Bill Plotkin..."speaks of the first half of life as doing our "survival dance". The second half of life can then become our "sacred dance". Most of us never get beyond our survival dance to ask the deep concerns of the soul (we are too busy "saving" our souls, whatever that means!"....Come Sacred Come! I attended the screening of a new movie called "The Journey of The Universe" this past weekend. Very good movie but stopped short of delving into the more spiritual implications of creation. Well worth the viewing however. One speaker at the showing mentioned what should have been obvious to me. He broke down the word Philosophy into its roots of Love and Wisdom. The Love of Wisdom. Way better than most of the reliances we seem to have to the various "ologies" out there. Butterflies are beautiful but wouldn't be here with out the Caterpiller and Pupa stages. :O) RV
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