[Sundaycommunity] Fwd: Richard Rohr Meditation: This Is an Apocalypse
Jean Leahy
jeantleahy at gmail.com
Mon Apr 26 08:26:55 PDT 2021
Thank you for forwarding this article from Richard Rohr. I have recently
thinking about receiving these reflections from Richard Rohr and so I
clicked onto the link at the bottom of this reflection to now receive
them.
Blessings,
Jean Leahy
On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 10:49 AM Patricia Smiley via Sundaycommunity <
sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:
> Thanks, Catherine. I truly enjoyed this reflection and it has given me
> much food for thought during these strange and discomforting times.
> Despite my respect for science and scientists, this is pushing the limits
> of human control over this world God gave us.
>
>
>
>
> *Patricia Smiley*
>
> *email: smileypatricia76 at gmail.com <smileypatricia76 at gmail.com>*
>
> *mobile: 647-517-1599*
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 10:07 AM Catherine Walther via Sundaycommunity <
> sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:
>
>> This was the Richard Rohr reflection today. It really impressed me and
>> gives me food for thought. Hope it’s good for you too. Catherine
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
>> From: Center for Action and Contemplation <Meditations at cac.org>
>> Date: Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 2:12 AM
>> Subject: Richard Rohr Meditation: This Is an Apocalypse
>> To: Catherine Walther <catherine.walther at gmail.com>
>>
>>
>> Apocalyptic means to pull back the veil, to reveal the underbelly of
>> reality.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> No images? Click here <https://email.cac.org/t/d-e-qttkhtt-tlkrtkhhuj-v/>
>>
>> Monday, April 26th, 2021
>>
>>
>> Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
>>
>> From the Center for Action and Contemplation
>>
>> [image: Image credit: Belinda Rain, Frost - Touched Grass (detail), 1972
>> photograph, public domain, National Archives.]
>> <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qttkhtt-tlkrtkhhuj-r/>
>>
>>
>> Week Seventeen: Apocalyptic Hope
>>
>> This Is an Apocalypse
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> In April of last year, I was invited by the Call to Unite [1] to share my
>> thoughts about what we might learn from the COVID-19 pandemic. I knew it
>> might be a risk, but I felt a strong urge to speak about the
>> much-misunderstood meaning of biblical apocalypse. Here is a portion of
>> that conversation:
>>
>> What apocalyptic means is to pull back the veil, to reveal the underbelly
>> of reality. It uses hyperbolic images, stars falling from the sky, the moon
>> turning to blood. The closest thing would be contemporary science fiction,
>> where suddenly you’re placed in an utterly different world, where what you
>> used to call “normal” doesn’t apply anymore. That perfectly describes this
>> COVID-19 event.
>>
>> So hear this word rightly—it is *meant *to shock: this is an *apocalypse*,
>> happening to us in our lifetime, that’s leaving us utterly out of control.
>> We’re grasping to retake control, by things like refusing to wear masks and
>> defying boundaries at potential superspreader events. But I think we now
>> know in a new way that we can’t totally take control.
>>
>> There is a giveaway in all of the apocalyptic sections of the three
>> Synoptic Gospels. In Matthew 24:8, hidden there in the middle of the wars
>> and earthquakes it says, “All this is only the beginning of the birth
>> pangs.” Apocalypse is for the sake of birth not death. Yet most of us have
>> heard this reading as a threat. Apparently, it’s not. Anything that upsets
>> our normalcy is a threat to the ego but in the Big Picture, it really
>> isn’t. In Luke 21, Jesus says right in the middle of the catastrophic
>> description: “Your endurance will win you your souls.” Falling apart is for
>> the sake of renewal, not punishment. Again, such a telling line. In Mark
>> 13, Jesus says “Stay awake” four times in the last paragraph (Mark
>> 13:32–37). In other words, “Learn the lesson that this has to teach you.”
>> It points to everything that we take for granted and says, “Don’t take
>> anything for granted.” An apocalyptic event reframes reality in a radical
>> way by flipping our imagination.
>>
>> We would have done history a great favor if we would have understood
>> apocalyptic literature. *It’s not* *meant to strike fear in us as much
>> as a radical rearrangement. *It’s not the end of the world. It’s the end
>> of *worlds—*our *worlds that we have created*. In the book of Revelation
>> (also called the Apocalypse, or Revelation to John), John is trying to
>> describe what it feels like when everything falls apart. It’s not a threat.
>> It’s an invitation to depth. It’s what it takes to wake people up to the
>> real, to the lasting, to what matters. It presents the serious reader with
>> a great “What if?”
>>
>> Our best response is to end our fight with reality-as-it-is. We will
>> benefit from anything that approaches a welcoming prayer—diving into the
>> change positively, preemptively, saying, “Come, what is; teach me your good
>> lessons.” Saying yes to “What is” ironically sets us up for “What if?”
>> Otherwise, we get trapped in the negative past.
>>
>>
>>
>> [1] The Call to Unite <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qttkhtt-tlkrtkhhuj-y/>
>> is a national movement promoting a culture of crossing lines that divide
>> and embracing ideas that unite.
>>
>> Richard Rohr, “This Is an Apocalypse,” in *The Call to Unite: Voices of
>> Hope and Awakening*, ed. Tim Shriver and Tom Rosshirt (Viking: 2021),
>> 54–55.
>>
>> *Image credit:* Belinda Rain, *Frost - Touched Grass* (detail), 1972
>> photograph, public domain, National Archives
>> <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qttkhtt-tlkrtkhhuj-j/>.
>>
>> *Image inspiration:* *This image may not present itself clearly upon
>> first glance. With a closer look shape, color, recognition and new
>> understanding fall into place.*
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Prayer For Our Community*
>>
>> *Loving God, you fill all things with a fullness and hope that we can
>> never comprehend. Thank you for leading us into a time where more of
>> reality is being unveiled for us all to see. We pray that you will take
>> away our natural temptation for cynicism, denial, fear and despair. Help us
>> have the courage to awaken to greater truth, greater humility, and greater
>> care for one another. May we place our hope in what matters and what lasts,
>> trusting in your eternal presence and love. Listen to our hearts’ longings
>> for the healing of our suffering world. Please add your own intentions . .
>> . Knowing, good God, you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we
>> offer these prayers in all the holy names of God. Amen.*
>> Listen to Father Richard pray this prayer aloud.
>> <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qttkhtt-tlkrtkhhuj-t/>
>>
>>
>> *Story From Our Community*
>>
>> *In these times there are so many ways to get “off track” in deed, word,
>> or thought. The real and sustaining light for me has been Richard Rohr and
>> the daily devotions from CAC! These times of unveiling demand a calm,
>> steady, and accepting voice to remind me we are merely experiencing the
>> natural evolution of growth. It can be quite challenging and painful. A
>> true, trusted, insightful guide is appreciated more than words can express.*
>> —Jimmy W.
>> Share your own story with us.
>> <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qttkhtt-tlkrtkhhuj-i/>
>>
>>
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>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> *News from the CAC*
>>
>>
>> *New edition of ONEING now available*
>>
>> This past year many across the world have suffered, and this new issue of
>> *ONEING* invites readers to participate in our collective healing. *ONEING:
>> Trauma* explores how “great love and great suffering bring us back to
>> God” through a thoughtfully curated collection of essays, poetry, and
>> critical responses from Fr. Richard Rohr, Matthew Fox, Joan Halifax,
>> Kaitlin Curtice and more. *ONEING: Trauma* is available now *in print*
>> <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qttkhtt-tlkrtkhhuj-h/> or a *downloadable
>> PDF* <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qttkhtt-tlkrtkhhuj-k/>.
>>
>> *The Divine Exchange*
>>
>> How can your exchanges and interactions be more united with the divine?
>> Cynthia Bourgeault leads you on a path of discovery in The Divine
>> Exchange <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qttkhtt-tlkrtkhhuj-u/>, a 14-week
>> online course for intermediate and advanced students of the path. Teaching
>> on the power of exchange, learn to give and receive in a framework that
>> embraces everything.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Explore Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations archive at cac.org
>> <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qttkhtt-tlkrtkhhuj-o/>.
>>
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>> *May you walk in joy as love calls us on.*
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