It’s not to the old self on the old path, which would be
non-conversion and non-enlightenment.
It’s not to the old self on a new path, which is where
most religion begins and ends. It involves new behavior, new language, and
practices that are sincere, but the underlying myth/worldview/motivation and
goals are never really changed. My anger, fear, and ego are merely transferred
to now defend my idea of God or religion.
Jesus is leading us to the new self on a new path, which
is the total transformation of consciousness, worldview, motivation, goals, and
rewards that characterize one who loves and is loved by God.
Richard Rohr
________________________
The time has
changed
The sun
rises earlier,
Bring light
to the day
But night
falls earlier
Casting us
into darkness
And the
bitterness of a winter night
Time has
changed
But
something is gained and something is lost
And in the
end, nothing has changed
Really
When Jesus said,
“I make all things new”
He meant it
He did not
simply call us to
Adopt a new ideology
Or embrace a
creed
He did not
even call us to accept a new set of rules.
He did not
call us to pack up our baggage
And with a
few adjustments to our thinking
And a
somewhat childish (not childlike) concept of who he is
And a
resolve to be better
And set out
on a new path, go a new way
Faith is
very much about all of that
New
thinking, new behaviors
A new way of
doing life
But to walk
this new path
To follow
Jesus
Takes
something else
It takes
death
It takes
resurrection
We can’t
follow Jesus.
We can’t
walk the new path
Without a
new self
Without
dying to the old
And allowing
the power of the Spirit
To make us
new
Creations
This is not
a magical, mystical transformation
Jesus
doesn’t wave a wand
And suddenly
Everything
is fresh and new
Too often, we
don’t die to the old
We let the
old self cling to us
(or we cling
to it)
We are
called to love God
Totally
All in
But we have
so many other allegiances.
We are told
to love everyone
But we don’t
We are
called to forgive
But
resentment and anger cling to our souls
We are told
to be generous
But we are
afraid
To take the
risk of generosity
We are told
to fear not
But we are
so afraid
The old self
stumbles on the new path
And our love
of God,
Our desire
to be faithful and obedient
Become a love
of religion
A fixation
on the rules
Judgment and
exclusion
Suddenly, it
is not God saving us
It is us
saving God
OMG
Here is the
deepest truth
We die to live
We lose
everything to gain everything
We empty our
hearts and hands
That our
hearts and hands might be full
Not a new
self on an old path
Nor an old
self on a new path
Only a new
self on a new path
will allow
us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
We have to
go deep,
Into the
terrifying darkness of the soul
So the light
can come into the darkness
And we can
start
anew
