finding the sacred - where to look

Jesus is always on the side of the crucified ones. He changes sides in the twinkling of an eye to go wherever the pain is. He is not loyal to one religion, to this or that group, or to the worthy; Jesus is only and always loyal to human suffering. Jesus is what mythology called a “shape-shifter,” and no one seeking power can use him for their private purposes. Those whose hearts are opened to human pain will see Jesus everywhere, and their old dualistic minds will serve them less and less, for the Shape-Shifter ends up shifting our very shape, too.

                                                                Richard Rohr

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if we want to find the sacred

if we want to see the divine woven into the fabric of human existence

if we want to see the power

the true power

of love at work

we look where

the world is hurting

we look where we are hurting

and there it is

if we look for the sacred in power, we find oppression and judgment

we find anger and hate

if we look for it in righteousness, we find self-righteousness and arrogance

if we look for it in rules, we find fear

it is when we look for the sacred

in those places where all is turmoil, fragmentation, and pain

that we see clearly the holy

and we see clearly the unholy

In Gaza City we see the anguish of God

for “children” gone astray

Into the way of violence

and for children crushed and killed by that violence

we see the sacred in the charred ground of MH17

and find it in the buses full of children, far from home

in those place the nature of God’s heart

is clear

and in those places the reality of the divine presence

is found in both the lives of those afflicted

and in the actions of those who work for peace and healing

this is where the sacred breaks through our apathy and complacency

and forces us to see and think, and feel, and respond

and change

so too in the painful areas of our lives

in the pain of relationships gone wrong

errors made

people hurt

in the pain of addiction

and fear

and anger

in the pain of hopelessness and helplessness

there the sacred breaks through

and works

against those forces that would destroy

it is then that we feel the sacred deeply

it is then that we see

the sacred

everywhere