Friday, May 20, 2011

even being beloved can have its travails

A BELOVED DISCIPLE

John is not only the archetype of the mystic, the lover, the chosen son; he is also the bearer of the agony of all chosenness. Election is seldom appreciated by others; it is seldom honored as a true touch from God. Our personal insecurity and neediness are too great to recognize and delight in the specialness of anyone else. Others are a threat to our zero-sum existence. Beloved status is almost always mistrusted, envied, judged, and even persecuted. That is the burden of being a chosen son or daughter.

Read the lives of saints and religious founders. Most of their persecution comes from their own families, and very often from church authorities. In the book of Jonah, it is the good and pious men who throw Jonah overboard (Jonah 1:14-16), while covering their attempted homicide with prayer, God-talk, and the making of heroic vows.

Richard Rohr

Welcome to the first day of the Third Day of the final wave of the Mayan Calendar. Let the "sprouting" begin. I am ready for new growing energy. The resistance of the Second Night has kicked my butt.

3 comments:

Susan O'Neil said...

Thanks for the update. I'd love more guidance on all this.

Deb Shucka said...

I'm ready for the sprouting, too! Love Richard Rohr.

graceonline said...

Was just talking to my mom about this last night. She sees the sprouting everywhere, especially in the children. She feels the human organism is evolving. At 88, she's had plenty of time to learn the difference between momentary aberrations and something more systemic.