Self Initiations Price!

"For example, anthropologists who study initiation rites in tribal cultures tell us that in some of those cultures the rights are so severe and demanding that sometimes a young man or woman does not survive the rights, but dies during the initiation. Our present sensibilities are horrified by that. We cannot imagine allowing something like this to happen, Elders subjecting their adults to trials and ordeals that can lead to their deaths. Yet they lose few young people during those initiations, while, in our own cultures, thousands of young people die every year trying to self initiate, trying to find their own way into adulthood. There is a tragic irony here: we are horrified by what seems to us primitive and cruel, even as thousands of our young people died on necessarily in prematurely because they have no one to help them sort out the meaning of their own Energies. But that is the struggle, and none of us is exempt."

-Ronald Rolheiser. Sacred Fire. 

When Did God Change His Love Policy?

"Eternity is going on all the time, and spiritual teachers give us a way to dip into that stream now and therefore forever. There assumption is invariably, "If you have it now, you will have it then." They see a perfect continuity between Time and Eternity. This is why they do not fear death or judgement. If God loves me so on conditionally now, why would God change the love policy later?"

- Richard Rohr. The Naked Now

The Divine Image Moves and Wiggles

"The indwelling divine image moves toward fulfillment in each of us throughout our lifetimes."

~ Richard Rohr

When Something Old Falls Appart

"The word change normally refers to new beginnings. But transformation more often happens not when something new begins but when something old falls apart. The pain of something old falling apart—disruption and chaos—invites the soul to listen at a deeper level. It invites and sometimes forces the soul to go to a new place because the old place is not working anymore.
The mystics use many words to describe this chaos: fire, darkness, death, emptiness, abandonment, trial, the Evil One. Whatever it is, it does not feel good and it does not feel like God. We will do anything to keep the old thing from falling apart."

~ Richard Rohr  Daily Meditation, Dec 29, 2017

Religion As Bargaining With God?

"Religion has always been an avenue that people have used to bargain for God’s blessing. If we do our part, we think that God will do his part and grant us our desires. The world can sometimes seem like a random and frightening place. People turn to God and religion in hope of finding some measure of security, protection, and favor. I get that.

However, the notion of pleasing or obeying God in order to gain favorable life circumstances as “God’s blessing” is false. God is not going to change the fact that the world is characterized by impermanence.....

The reason why people are so caught up with seeking favor from God is that they wrongly assume that peace and happiness has something to do with better life circumstances,......"

(Jim Palmer. Notes From Over The Edge )