Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation

From the Center for Action and Contemplation

Week Four: The Cosmic Egg

“The Story”

The largest and final dome is the realm of universal meaning. This sacred canopy is The Story that is always true, the patterns that every culture and religion discover in some manner. This level assures and insures the other two. It holds them together in sacred meaning. This is true transcendence, authentic Spirit, which informs all soul and body work. I also call it “The Perennial Tradition” that keeps recurring in every age. (View the three domes of The Cosmic Egg on our website here).

The Story is not limited to any one religion or denomination, and all healthy religions and even philosophies will be tellingit on some level. For example, forgiveness is one of the patterns that is always true. It always heals, whether you are Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, or Jewish, gay or straight, Black or white. There is no specifically Catholic or Indigenous way to feed the hungry or steward the earth. Love is love, even if the motivation and symbols might be different.

The complete cosmic egg is uniquely the work of God and healthy religion. Biblical tradition, at its best, honors and combines all three levels of story: personal journey as raw material, communal identity as school and training ground, and true transcendence as the integration and gathering place for all the parts together. We call it holiness, which is the ultimate form of wholeness.

Without the great stories that free us, we remain trapped in small cultural and private worlds. Without the great patterns that are always true, we get lost in choosing between tiny patterns. True transcendence frees us from the tyranny of I Am and the idolatry of We Are. Anything smaller is “spiritual bypassing” and won’t get us very far on the path of either liberation or wisdom. We cannot bypass the two smaller domes and find any authenticity or love by a supposed leap to the third level. We all have met people who present much God talk or spiritual talk, but we find ourselves almost afraid of them, because they so lack substance or grounding.

If all three domes are taken seriously, as the Bible does very well, we have a full life—fully human and fully divine. The genius of the biblical revelation is that it gives us permission and even direction to take conscious ownership of our own story at every level, every part of our life and experience. God will use all of this material, even the negative parts, to bring us to life and love.

Now that’s really good news! Suddenly we can take our own lives seriously, the good and the bad parts, because God has done it first! We are neither trapped inside of our little culture and group identity, nor our private pain and hurts. We are people of the Big Picture and live inside of a lovely cosmic egg of full meaning, where nothing is eliminated and all is used to bring us to life. Jesus taught us to call that the kingdom of God.

Adapted from Richard Rohr, The Wisdom Pattern (Franciscan Media: 2020), 112–113; and 

Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality (Franciscan Media: 2008), 23–24

Image credit: Branches and Leaves (detail), Photograph by Thomas Merton, copyright the Merton Legacy Trust and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University. Used with Permission.

Image inspiration: A tree with its leaves can only tell the cyclical story of life alongside a tree that is dying. Life and death in creation weave harmonies to share the rich this-ness of The Story.

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.

Story From Our Community

Decades ago, my late father left my mother, and I had a very rocky relationship with his new wife. A few years before their passing, I helped her sign up for the Daily Meditations—she never missed a single one. Learning that this one simple act of sharing gave her so much peace and happiness healed my heart. I am grateful for Richard Rohr and CAC. This thing with my stepmother taught me that just one small act of kindness, in lieu of holding onto resentments, has the power to heal greatly. 
—Andrew R.   
Share your own story with us.

News from the CAC

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Explore Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations archive at cac.org. 

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