Saturday, February 09, 2013
Rohr, R. (2011) falling upward: a spirituality for the two halves of life.
Steps and stages 8
In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty, and in all things charity pope John xxiii 13
First half of life
You need a very strong container to hold the contents and contradictions that arrive later in life. you ironically need a very strong ego structure to let go of your ego. You need to struggle with the rules more than a bit before you throw them out. You only internalise values by butting up against values for a while.... This is an important paradox for most of us 26
The first half of life container, nevertheless is constructed through impulse controls; traditions; group symbols; family loyalties; basic respect for authority; cilvil and church laws and a sense of the goodness 27
When some have not been able to do the task of the first half of life well, they go back and try to do it again - and then often can over do it! 40
The result is a generation of seminarians and young clergy who are cognitively rigid and risk adverse; who want to circle the wagons around their imagined secure and superior group; who seen preoccupied with clothing, titles, perks and externals of religion and frankly have little use forty world beyond their own control or explanation 42
Discharging your loyal soldier - the kind of closure is much needed for most of us at the end of all transitions in life... No one shows us the stunted and limited character of the worldview of the first half of life, so we just continue with more of the same. :44
Paradoxically your loyal soldier gives you so much security and validation that you may confuse his voice with the very voice of God 46
When you discharge your loyal soldier it will feel like a loss of faith or loss of self. But it is only the death of the false self, and is often the very birth of the soul 50
Anam chara 50
Even Pope John Paul II said at a Vatican conference on June 28, 1999 that heaven and hell were primarily eternal states of consciousness more than geographical places of later reward and punishment. We seem to be our own worst enemies, and we forget or deny things that are just too good to be true. The ego clearly prefers an economy of merit, where we can divide the world into winners and losers, to any economy of grace, where merit and worthiness lose all meaning.
In the first case, at least a few of us good guys attain glory, although the vast majority of all of human history seems to be mere collateral damage to a God who is supposed to be merciful and compassionate. In the second case, God actually is as merciful and compassionate as the world Scriptures and saints seem to agree upon. A notion of hell has to be theoretically maintained, or humans have no freedom—and most religions have a similar concept—but it is interesting to me that the Roman Catholic Church has never declared a single person to be there, while it has declared tens of thousands to be in heaven!
Just the existence of a single mentally challenges or mentally ill person should make us change any of our theories about the necessity of some kind of correct thinking as the definition of 'salvation'
Paraclete defense attorney
The saint is precisely one who has no I to protect or project. His or her 'I' is in conscious union with the 'I am' of God, and that is more than enough 132
Invariably when something upsets you and y have a strong emotional reaction out of proportion to the moment, your shadow self has been exposed 133
Most groups and institutions are first half structures ... I say it to keep you from being depressed or losing all hope by having false expectations. Don't expect or demand from grous what they usually can. T give. Doing so will make y needlessly angry and reactionary. They must and will be concerned with identity, boundaries, self- maintenance, self- perpetuation, and self congratulation.this is their nature and purpose. The most y can hope for is a few enlightened leaders and policies now and then 141
