The genius of Jesus’ ministry is that he embraces tragedy,
suffering, pain, betrayal, and death itself to bring us to God. There are no
dead ends. Everything can be transmuted, and everything can be used.
Everything…
…Until there has been a journey through suffering, I don’t
believe that we have true healing authority. We don’t have the ability to lead
anybody anyplace new unless we have walked it ourselves to some degree. In
general, we can only lead people on the spiritual journey as far as we
ourselves have gone. We simply can’t talk about it beyond that. That’s why the
best thing we can do for people is to stay on the journey ourselves. We
transform people to the degree we have been transformed.
Richard
Rohr (blog 9/14/2020)
______________________________________________________
everything can be used
everything
every strength we have
every weakness too
all the knowledge we have gathered
and our ignorance too
those moments of triumph
when our hearts soared and we raised our hands to the sky
and those moments of abject failure
when cowed and beaten we were driven to our knees
Sacred can use everything
Everything
On my own journey, as I have stumbled and bumbled through
life
there have been “showers of blessings”
good parents
sisters who tolerate and even love me
a heritage of faith
a good brain
a plethora of talents
and those blessings have led
I hope
to a life that mattered
as I served, variously
as minister, disaster relief worker
medical school faculty, Mental Health Director and
therapist
but if I am honest
whatever capacity I have
to be a leader, a teacher, a healing
has been most deeply nourished
by those parts of me that are wounded
I have been not only shaped
but transformed, redeemed
by my anxiety
and by my struggles with self-esteem
by my impulsive nature
by my passion
which can be both a blessing and a curse
it has been the dark moments
the times when life caved in
the times when I failed
the times when I wandered aimlessly in dysfunction
that have created the most growth
and have given me whatever ability I have
to be a person of compassion
patience
acceptance
generosity, and kindness
it is in part because I have “been there”
and have walked with the Sacred through the darkness
that I have deep wisdom
Sacred can use everything
from my ignorance has come wisdom
from my wounds has come healing, and the ability to heal
others
Sacred can use everything
even this moment in history
as our nation stumbles through the darkness of COVID
as we stumble without leadership
as predators gnaw on the bones of our democracy
and violence stalks the streets
as we watch our forests burn
and our climate change
and watch the dark specter of authoritarianism threaten
to change the very nature of our nation, profoundly
as a nation we have been blest in so many ways
this amazing land
bright people
energy
strength
we have rarely been tested
we have rarely felt the kind of pain other nations have
gone through
oh there have been moments,
when we have rushed in, the strong hero nation
to confront evil
there have been brief moments when the pain
of the world has intruded
when the worlds violence became our violence
as on 9/11
but now
the pain is ours
maybe it is not that the pain is really all that new
maybe we are just finally willing to see those places
where we are ill
our racism
our love of power
our greed
maybe it is just that it has now been revealed
but this is a moment of trial
we are ill, wounded, staggering
and like to fall
Sacred uses everything
Everything
and that creative, sustaining, loving power
that permeates all
will use this moment
to humble
to soften
to teach
will use this moment
to help us become better people
a better nation
will use this moment to teach us the importance of
empathy
and generosity
and equity
and equality
and kindness
and will walk with us through the darkness
toward the light
saddened, wounded, but transformed
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