Apples + Richard Rohr

Did you know that I don't like apples?

I don't. I simply can't stand the texture. I don't mind apple products or things made with apples (except for apple pie... ick). But the texture of apples does me in.

Anyway, on to what I'm here to write...

I've been reading Richard Rohr's Everything Belongs. And ho-lee-cow! I'm a little under half way through and have four pages, front and back, of notes + quotes. It'd be more, but I'm forcing myself to skip some. So, well... I'm just gonna share a few with you. I love this book. I'm currently borrowing it from the library, but I think I might just need to own it once I'm a bit more financially stable!

Well, without further ado,

Let's breathe...

"You do not resolve the God question in your head- or even in the perfection of moral response. It is resolved in you, when you agree to bear the mystery of God: God's suffering for the world and God's ecstasy in the world." (16)

We do not find our center, it finds us- Our own mind will not be able to figure it out. We collapse back into the truth only when we are naked and free- which is probably not very often. We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking. In other words, our journeys around and through our realities, or 'circumferences,' lead us to THE core reality, where we meet both our truest self and our truest God. We do not know what it means to be human unless we know God. And in turn, we do not really know God except through our own broken and rejoicing humanity. (19)

We cannot attain the presence of God because we're already there. What's absent is awareness. Little do we realize that God is maintaining us in existence with every breath we take. As we take another it means that God is choosing us now and now and now. (29)

We have to learn to see what is already there. (30)

Prayer is not primarily saying words or thinking thoughts. It is, rather, a stance. It's a way of living in the presence, in awareness of the presence, and of even enjoying the presence (31)


That's all for now. But seriously, that's way more than enough to ponder for the week.

I think I've posted these lyrics in the past, but I stumbled upon the song again yesterday and found the words to strike a new cord, causing me to ask new questions and consider what change might look like. Read these over and give it some thought.

What emotions or thoughts do they prompt? What questions do they evoke? What would it look like for things to be different? Better?

[Oh My God, by Jars of Clay]

Oh my God, look around this place,
Your fingers reach around the bone,
you set the break and set the tone
For flights of grace, and future falls
In present pain all fools say, "Oh my God."

Oh my God, why are we so afraid?
we make it worse when we don't bleed,
there is no cure for our disease.
Turn a phrase and rise again,
or fake your death and only tell your closest friends,
Oh My God.

Oh my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief and graft my soul upon your grief.
Weddings, boats, and alibis,
All drift away, and a mother cries...

Liars and fools, sons and failures, theives will always say..
Lost and found, ailing wanderers, healers always say..
Whores and angels, men with problems, leavers always say..
Broken hearted, separated, orphans always say..
War creators, racial haters, preachers always say..
Distant fathers, fallen warriors, givers always say..
Pilgrim saints, lonely widows, users always say..
Fearful mothers, watchful doubters, Saviors always say..

Sometimes I can not forgive
and these days mercy cuts so deep,
If the world was how it should be, maybe I could get some sleep.
While I lay, I'd dream we're better, scales were gone and faces lighter,
When we wake we hate our brother, we still move to hurt each other,
Sometimes I can close my eyes and all the fear the keeps me silent,
Falls below my heavy breathing, what makes me so badly bent?
We all have a chance to murder, we all have the need for wonder.
We still want to be reminded that the pain is worth the plunder.

Sometimes when I lose my grip, I wonder what to make of heaven,
All the times I thought to reach up, all the times I had to give up.
Babies underneath their beds, in hospitals that cannot treat them.
All the wounds that money causes, all the comforts of cathedrals,
All the cries of thirsty children, this is our inheritance,
All the rage of watching mothers, this is our greatest offense

Oh my God,
Oh my God,
Oh my God

Faith

The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.

Anne Lamott's Friend, Father Tom, quoted in her book Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

:-)

Any thoughts?

And a song:

(if you find staring at an album cover as distracting as I do, close your eyes, it helps :-) )