Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation

From the Center for Action and Contemplation

Summary: Week Thirty-two

Order, Disorder, Reorder:
Part One

August 9 - August 14, 2020

To grow toward love, union, salvation, or enlightenment, we must be moved from Order to Disorder, and then ultimately to Reorder. (Sunday)

Law, tradition, and boundaries—what I call Order—seem to be necessary in any spiritual system both to reveal and to limit our basic egocentricity. Such containers make at least some community, family, and marriage possible. (Monday)

This process of moving from innocence to knowledge is never finished. Always there is the realm of innocence, always there is the realm of knowledge. —Rev. Howard Thurman (Tuesday)

For Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955), love is at the physical heart of the universe. He viewed love as the attraction of all things toward all things. We could say that love is the universal ordering principle. (Wednesday)

We can look upon the face of anyone or anything around us and say—as a moral declaration and a spiritual, cosmological, and biological fact: You are a part of me I do not yet know. —Valarie Kaur (Thursday)

The ego believes that disorder or change is always to be avoided, so we hunker down and pretend that our Order is entirely good, should be good for everybody, and is always “true” and even the only truth. (Friday)

Practice: Brave Creativity

In 2010, Living School sendee Jonathon Stalls spent 242 days walking across the United States. The journey inspired him to help other people experience “life at 3 miles per hour.” As an artist and social and racial justice advocate, his activism is communicated through community building, contemplative practice, and walking meditation. We invite you, as able, to take some time this weekend to move mindfully through your local area. Jonathon offers these instructions:

Prep:
Bring a notebook, invite goals/pains/dreams with you, and perhaps protect some time for pre-writing (What might you want to open, envision, dream, wake up to as you walk/roll?). . . .

Timing & Location:
[Move] at least 30‒40 minutes. Unhurried. Right where you are, and, if you can, the less distractions or barriers, the better. If you can be in quieter or smoother environments, you will have a greater creative capacity.

Safety & Health:
[Bring a mask with you.] If near people, please wear it when you are 6‒10 feet away. Have water, comfortable shoes/clothing, and sun [protection].

Before You Begin Moving:
Pause and take a few deep breaths. As your lungs expand, envision your veins, brain capacity, heart capacity, and dream capacity expanding with them. Be as open as you can be.

Movement:
As you begin to move, seek the realms of wonder, of space, and of reaching high into what’s possible. Look up at the sky as often as you can. As you move, notice the way branches adapt, bend, and emerge from the sides. They started in one direction . . .  where did they end up? How are they filling in and thriving in the spaces where no branch existed before? Notice the way clouds move, plants rest and blossom, and colors evolve as the sun goes down.

After roughly 20 minutes notice what begins to clear, notice what begins to open around your ideas, dreams, and possible barriers/blocks. Be ready with that notebook! I find that it is super helpful to simply honor what comes up by jotting it down. I can then release it, which will allow for more creative room. Try not to overthink or shut down ideas. This is a time to allow and celebrate imagination. If you aren’t noticing moments of inspiration and creativity, don’t worry . . . this practice can take time to set in. In time (and with practice!) it will open and expand your thinking, living, and BEing in beautiful and revealing ways.

I deeply invite you to use this practice alongside how you (how we) can envision a more human way that honors Human dignity, honors and protects our Planet, and honors our own inner journey. I believe we need brave body-based practices that inspire Radical Creativity(centering human justice, planet care, and inner healing) in this time more than ever.

Close:
Take one or two more deep breaths and commit to movement practice as a way to invite brave creativity around dreams, creative vision, conflict, feeling stuck, stress, and more. Honor and thank your Body and the Earth.

Jonathon Stalls, Walking/Movement Practices: {Opening} Brave Creativity, Intrinsic Paths, https://www.intrinsicpaths.com/walking-invitation

Image credit: Last Tangle (detail), Leo Valledor, 1976.

For Further Study:

Valarie Kaur, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love (One World: 2020)

Barbara A. Holmes, Liberation and the Cosmos: Conversations with the Elders (Fortress Press: 2008)

Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe (Convergent Books: 2019)

Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (Jossey-Bass: 2011)

Richard Rohr, The Wisdom Pattern (Franciscan Media: 2020)

Howard Thurman, The Inward Journey (Friends United Press: 2007, ©1961)

News from the CAC

Breathing Under Water

This rich 8-week online course expands on Richard Rohr's book through reflections, commentary, additional articles, videos, and audio clips. Move through disorder and into reorder with weekly themes to help you let go of unhealthy attachments and rewire your habitual patterns of dualistic thinking. Registrations ends Aug. 19. The course runs Aug. 26- Oct. 20, 2020.

Mary Magdalene: An Apostle to Our Times

What can Mary Magdalene's life and example teach us about living the Gospel in today's world? While history has often portrayed Mary Magdalene incorrectly as a prostitute, there is much to discover about this mystic who walked so closely with Jesus. Uncover the path of conscious love with Cynthia Bourgeault and spiritual seekers across the world in our 8-week online course Mary Magdalene: An Apostle to Our Times. Financial assistance is available until Sept. 9. Registration ends Sept. 16 or when full.

Action & Contemplation

2020 Daily Meditations Theme

What does God ask of us? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. —Micah 6:8

Franciscan Richard Rohr founded the Center for Action and Contemplation in 1987 because he saw a deep need for the integration of both action and contemplation. If we pray but don’t act justly, our faith won’t bear fruit. And without contemplation, activists burn out and even well-intended actions can cause more harm than good. In today’s religious, environmental, and political climate our compassionate engagement is urgent and vital.

Click here to learn about contemplative prayer and other forms of meditation. For frequently asked questions—such as what versions of the Bible Father Richard recommends or how to ensure you receive every meditation—please see our email FAQ. Visit cac.org to explore other ways to connect with the Center for Action and Contemplation.

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Inspiration for this week's banner image: We need a very strong container to hold the contents and contradictions that arrive later in life. —Richard Rohr