And so long as you do not know that to die is to become, you are just a wretched visitor on this dark earth. —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Grace leads us to a state of emptiness, to that momentary sense of meaninglessness in which we ask, 'What is it all for?' -- Fr. Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditation," August 1, 2017
There it is. The unacceptable answer to ego's demand for the continuous, uninterrupted and forever feeling of peace, love and joy. Not to mention right...or never wrong. But then, to our ego, what else is peace, love and joy but right, or never wrong?
Picture it: A suicide wailing "What is it all for?" and leaping off the Empire State Building. But who's kidding whom? We've all made that leap mentally more than twice, never realizing that is it. That is the only place to be to receive the grace that leads us free. Free of me...which is true freedom. Free of me.
The problem with "free of me" is it requires something else to fill the vacant space...there's where free-will can trip us. That space is God's hidey hole which we are free to fill as we choose. It takes most of us a long time to give over to whatever God wills for us...we chose our favorite poison repeatedly until we come again and finally to that unacceptable Jeopardy-type answer, "What's it all for?"
What a surprise to find the correct answer is, "I do not know." We usually must needs crash and burn before we can spit those words out...and that, too, is the best way.
To quote my beloved Kris Kristofferson, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." Who knew when first we heard those words they'd be back...and heading us in the right direction? Which is to say, away from self toward God.
Thank you.
Grace leads us to a state of emptiness, to that momentary sense of meaninglessness in which we ask, 'What is it all for?' -- Fr. Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditation," August 1, 2017
There it is. The unacceptable answer to ego's demand for the continuous, uninterrupted and forever feeling of peace, love and joy. Not to mention right...or never wrong. But then, to our ego, what else is peace, love and joy but right, or never wrong?
Picture it: A suicide wailing "What is it all for?" and leaping off the Empire State Building. But who's kidding whom? We've all made that leap mentally more than twice, never realizing that is it. That is the only place to be to receive the grace that leads us free. Free of me...which is true freedom. Free of me.
The problem with "free of me" is it requires something else to fill the vacant space...there's where free-will can trip us. That space is God's hidey hole which we are free to fill as we choose. It takes most of us a long time to give over to whatever God wills for us...we chose our favorite poison repeatedly until we come again and finally to that unacceptable Jeopardy-type answer, "What's it all for?"
What a surprise to find the correct answer is, "I do not know." We usually must needs crash and burn before we can spit those words out...and that, too, is the best way.
To quote my beloved Kris Kristofferson, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." Who knew when first we heard those words they'd be back...and heading us in the right direction? Which is to say, away from self toward God.
Thank you.
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