Concentrating Too Much On Special Times

In response to their question "When(time) will the Kingdom come?" He tells them that Ultimate Reality is not here and not there, taking us away from our typical attachment to time. For the Ultimate Reality is "within you!" (Luke 17:21). If you let people concentrate too much on special times, feasts, services, and Seasons, they forget it is always now and here when God happens. They stop living in the naked now and wait for Christmas or Easter, Sunday morning, or some far-off future day of Enlightenment (see Colossians 2:16-19).

Then Jesus makes the identical point about place. When they ask, "Where should we look for the day of the coming?" He says don't look here and don't look there (Luke 17 23). Once you over localize God's action in one place, church service, Sacrament, or any other kind of event, we can easily conclude that it is not in another place - or even worse, that it is not available everywhere and all of the time.

In revitalizing both time and space, Jesus is doing something similar to Eckhart Tolle is doing for many today with his "power of now." He makes us look for the absolute in a different way than by "certain ideas." Any good spiritual teacher has to overcome both space and time, or they have no ability to give you a sense of the Eternal and the Really Real. I would in fact say this is essential. Poor spiritual teaching is always saying only here and only there, such as "only in my church". Good spiritual teaching is saying "always" and "everywhere."

- Richard Rohr. The Naked Now.