“ ‘Change’ is when something old dies and something new begins. But mere change might or might not be accompanied by authentic inner transformation. If change does not include personal transformation, we do not actually grow, we just grudgingly adjust.
The ego fights, avoids, and denies the necessity or advantage of any real transformation, which is why true spiritual growth is so rare and the Gospel is so hard to hear. The ego prefers the status quo—even when it is killing us.” Richard Rohr
The Ego prefers the status quo- even when it is killing us! Those are powerful words that make one stand up and take notice. To maintain the status quo is to keep things the way they presently are. That sounds great to me, especially if I am thinking of my job, my family, my friends, the ability to maintain the house I live in etc… But that is not what Rohr is addressing. According to Andrew Cohen, Ego is experienced as an emotional quagmire of fear and attachment. It is the part of you that is afraid, feels victimized, avoids that which contradicts its own understanding of self, and is invested in its own personal fears and desires. It is attached to the past and is terrified of change.
So you see, when the Ego maintains that there is no need to be transformed into something more than what we have already become, piece by piece our inner selves begin the dying process. We become stuck, looking for some means of salvation whether that be our own notion of self sufficiency or whether that be in the form of other “distractions” like work, relationships, addictive behaviors and the alike. I have felt this many times in my life… the feeling that something in me is not right, that something in me is dying. Time after time, I come back to the need for transformation.
Often, I have found myself becoming impatient with the process thinking that transformation is a one time step- by -step program, and at the end I will be whole. That is not the case, however. transformation is a process that takes us to the next level of our spiritual awareness. That’s the way I like to think of it, and today I am ready to embark on the journey forward.
The beauty found in the newness of life is wrapped up in the perfection, innocence and helplessness of being. The beauty found in middle age is the knowledge that the past can be transformed into meaningful experiences that serve to guide one into Maturity. The beauty found in old age is the wisdom acquired from a lifetime of experiences and the coming to terms with one’s own mortality. Beauty is always upon us. It never departs, although I am sure some would argue otherwise. It is constantly changing and revealing itself in new ways and by new means. Beauty moves inward reaching further and further into the depths of our being. Most recognize “true” beauty here. It radiates outwardly embracing all that life has offered. Beauty is bitter-sweet just as life. It ebbs and flows but it always remains.
These photographs of elderly animals by Houston based artist Isa Keshko are testament that beauty clearly resides within and through all of life in some form no matter what. Leshko explains her motives for taking these images, “I began the series as a means of exploring my feelings about my mother’s decline due to Alzheimer’s Disease… As I’ve worked on this project, though, I’ve come to realize that these images are a testament to survival and endurance. And they raise questions about what it means to be elderly.”
I awoke this morning to the sound of an email being delivered to my account. Yes, I sleep next to my computer! Any way, the email is a daily meditation that I get. Today’s message really resonated with me. It was written in such a way that I can actually wrap my head around the fuller meaning of what Christ did for humanity, the example that He became to the world. His life is both beautiful and tragic, admired and yet feared. In the words of Richard Rohr, “hebecame what we are all afraid of and what we all deny: nakedness, exposure, vulnerability and failure.”
Here is the meditation in its entirety.
On this Palm Sunday, picture yourself before the crucified Jesus and recognize that hebecame what we are all afraid of and what we all deny: nakedness, exposure, vulnerability and failure. He became “sin” (Romans 8:3) to free us from repeating that sin (ignorant killing of anything— thinking it will solve our problem), Jesus became the cosmic Scapegoat who reveals our very worst and our very best to those who will gaze on the Crucified long enough. Jesus became what humanity hates—to tell us to stop hating, to love that which we fear, and how wrong we can be about who is good and who is bad.
Jesus became the pleading image of what humans do to creation—so we could see it in stark outline, with the curtain of denial and illusion withdrawn. God in Jesus became the crucified so we would stop crucifying. He became the crucified, who refused to crucify back, and thus stopped the universal pattern of death. As Sebastian Moore said many years ago, “the crucified Jesus is no stranger,” he is no stranger to anyone who has lived and loved, no stranger to the universal experience of suffering, despair, and loneliness. In that, he saves us.
Bibledex is a project by the University of Nottingham‘s Department of Theology and Religious Studies in conjunction with video journalist Brady Haran. The videos are by no means comprehensive – rather they’re a curious assortment of academic insights into what is probably the most famous collection of books in history.
A variety of University of Nottingham theologians share their insights in these videos. They range from esteemed professors to PhD students. In some cases they are world experts on a specific topic – at other times they’re simply revealing an interesting perspective or anecdote.
Each video at Bibledex is between 7 and 10 minutes and gives a good overview of each of the books of the Bible including the Deuterocanonical books as well.
This is an interesting post from Patheos in which a number of bloggers from different faiths were asked to describe Who or What God is to them in 100 words or less. The similarities are striking!
I am not sure where I stand on the idea of the Devil and exorcism, and I will say up front that I have yet to see the movie, The Rite. I am intrigued, however by Arni Zachariassen overview of the movie on his blog “I Think I Believe”
He states, “The Rite does treat the issues relating to religion and science with noteworthy depth. Much of the film’s plot and drama revolves around classic questions of religion versus science (Does religion begin where science ends? Is exorcism a last resort when psychology has failed? How do you know when you’ve reached the end of psychology? How do you tell the difference between a severely deluded paranoid schizophrenic and a person possessed by demons? Is demon possession reducible to psychotic delusion and exorcism to (what I’ve called) highly contextual psychosomatic self-therapy?) and they are handled with a good degree of ambiguity throughout.”
Zachariasse’s review stands in contrast to others I have noted in the Related Articles section below. Still, I am thinking that my curiosity will get the best of me, and I will have to see the movie.
The meanings of names and places have always fascinated me. I am intrigued by the thought process of the individual(s) doing the naming. Questions run through my mind like, “I wonder why that name was chosen?” “Does the name reflect certain characteristics of the place or the person?” “Is the name descriptive or does it merely suggest? ” ” Does the name point to the past, the present, or the future?”
El Shaddai is a name most are familiar with. It is one of many names used to reference God. But what else is known about this name? In Judaism, there is one proper name for God, YHWH. It represents the divine nature, and the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. If YHWH is the proper name for God, then we can view the other names referencing God as titles which highlight different aspects of YHWH and the various roles which God portrays. For example Elohim means god or authority, Elyon means most high, El means god or mighty one, Adonai means Lord, lord or master. These titles represent God as He is known as well as the divine aspects which are attributed to Him.
So, what does the word El Shaddai mean and how did it come to be associated with YHWH? El is a name that is translated as “god”. It Appears in Ugaritic, Phoenician, and other ancient text both as generic “god” and as the head of the divine pantheon. El can be used in conjunction with other words to designate various aspects of God’s character . For example, El Roi means “God of Seeing” or “The God Who Opens our eyes (Gen 16:13) and El Berith means “God of the Covenant” (Judges 9:46). In both cases, we have God (El) plus a particular attribute used to describe.
Shaddai, on the other hand, is more problematic. Shaddai was an Amorite city located on the Euphrates river in Syria. It was also a well-known name of a West Semitic deity that the Hebrews attached El to. El Shaddai was therefore the “God of Shaddai.” But let us take a closer look at the word Shaddai. The root word “shadad” means “to overpower” or “to destroy.” This would give Shaddai the meaning of “destroyer”, representing one of the aspects of God. The Septuagint translates this into Almighty. In most English translations, El Shaddai becomes God Almighty. It is the name Shaddai whom Abraham, Issac, and Jacob follow.
Shaddai might also be related to the word shadaim , the word for breasts in Hebrew. It may thus be connected to the notion of fertility. Two examples ( and there are more) where the name is connected with fruitfulness: “May God Almighty [El Shaddai] bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers…” (Gen. 28:3). “I am God Almighty [El Shaddai]: be fruitful and increase in number” (Gen. 35:11).
Some scholars believe the name may have come from the contraction of sha ( “who” or “she”) and dai (“enough, sufficient, sufficiency”) to indicate God’s complete sufficiency. The name then refers to the patriarchal understanding of deity as “God who is sufficient to supply all one’s needs.” To this was later added the Mosaic conception of the Tetragrammaton YHWH, meaning a God who is sufficient in Himself.
The Talmud further explores the concept of “enough” in the word Shaddai saying that “Shaddai” stands for “Mi she’Amar Dai L’olamo” – “He who said ‘Enough’ to His world.” When God was creating the world, He stopped the process at a certain point, holding back creation from reaching its full completion, and thus the name embodies God’s power to stop creation (Almighty). The Velveteen Rabbi highlights the teachings of Kedushat Levi concerning this idea: “God, he says, is known as “El Shaddai,” which is a name which offers two messages at once. The name El connotes strength, while the name Shaddai connotes divine flow (as in the Hebrew word shadayim, breasts.) The Holy Blessed One goes by the name “El Shaddai” in order to evoke both boundaried strength and limitless flow at the same time. When the Holy Blessed One first aspired to create, God was inclined to expand and spread without limit, but realized that in order for creation to take place, God had to say dai (enough!) and create limits.” The Velveteen Rabbi offers this commentary regarding Kedushat Levi’s teachings, “The Blesssed One had to behave in the world according to the strength of those who would receive God’s presence, rather than according to the strength of the Ein-Sof / God’s limitless transcendence. [In other words: God had to reveal God’s-self in a way which was mindful of our limits.] Because we can’t receive all of God’s greatness.”
El Shaddai points to the past, the present, and the future. (S)HE is God Almighty, The Giver and Taker of Life, The One Who Is Sufficient, The Divine Milk of Mankind, A Land Flowing With Milk and Honey. I am reminded of these lyrics by Singer/Song writer Amy Grant:
El Shaddai, El Shaddai,
El-Elyon na Adonai,
Age to age You’re still the same,
By the power of the name.
El Shaddai, El Shaddai,
Erkamka na Adonai,
I will praise and lift You high,
El Shaddai.
Photographer Charles Grogg has produced a number of hauntingly beautiful portfolios, the latest of which is “After Ascension and Descent”. This portfolio is remarkable in the since that Grogg takes an array of ordinary objects ranging from a simple envelope to a stem of roots whose limbs spread out like tentacles, and he ties these seemingly random objects together through the use of materials that bind or help to connect. These items: string, wire, rope, roots, veins all act as metaphors for our connection to life. They become, as Grogg states, tethers.
“After Ascension and Descent” was inspired by a desire to know one’s roots, the roots which are mostly hidden, those that reach far back into time and place giving our lives context and meaning as we continue moving forward, growing our own roots and touching the lives of those who are present and those who are yet to come. What emerges from this idea is the notion that all of life is connected even when those connections seem invisible. It is both a hopeful yearning for collaboration and involvement, but also a recognition that the possibility of pain exists within the ties that bind.
“Over time, I was surprised how nature seemed to copy my ideas (doesn’t naiveté have an important place in making art?), how wires, tethers, ropes, strings, conduits all appear whenever there is something important near; a house receiving its utilities, a sapling projected from the wind, cattle grazing at a fence. I knew I must be tethered too, as well as all the people I care about and even those I don’t know. We are engaged and prevented at the same moment, kept for and kept against, united and divided all at once.”
“After Ascension and Descent” is printed on silver gelatin paper and toned in selenium. The images are smeared with dirt and mud in encaustic and then pierced with copper wire or sewn. Sometimes the sewing takes place on the photograph while at other times the sewing is part of the conception of the image. The craftmanship of Grogg’s prints as well as his curious compositions point to connections we would never have made.
My favorite quote from Charles Grogg is this, ” Thinking in these terms has resulted in these images, an expression of desire for growth at the moment of inhibition, when hesitation is the gap between desiring and having.”
Who are your closest friends in life? What are the characteristics that draw you to them? Are there many or only a few? Have you known them all of your life or only for a short period of time?
People who we call true friends or soul friends are necessary to life. Where would we be without such relationships to accompany us on our journey? I know that I would be so completely lost without the helping hands of others.
Looking back, it seems to me that I have had at least one such friend for every phase in my life. Some of these relationships were short-lived while others remained deepening over time, increasing in-depth and breadth. These relationships have affected my life in the most profound ways imaginable, and each leg of the journey I take, I carry those friendships with me. They are apart of who I am, and their soft voices in my head guide me forward in the journey that awaits me.
What is special about these relationships is that they provide safety for speaking from the heart and of being our authentic selves. They provide us with a place that is lacking in fear, criticism, or ridicule. Abundant grace resides within these friendships in the form of honesty, respect, and mutuality.
C.S. Lewis refers to this experience as “kindred souls”. In my mind that brings about a picture of two souls that are alike and that share many of the same experiences and desires. It evokes a sense of harmony and communion that draws us closer together in our journey forward.
I have been wrestling with the idea that my knowledge of God and faith in God is mostly directed by my intellect rather than by my heart. It occurs to me that intellectualism can be a means of avoiding intimacy. If I intellectualize my thoughts then I take the emotions and feelings out of the equation. Rather than experiencing God as a soul friend who cares for my wellbeing as others do, I diminish Him to God The Creator who comes in and out of my life at will, or when I need for Him to be present.
In an effort to seek true companionship with God, I must begin thinking of Him rather than thinking about Him. I must learn to become more attentive to His presence in my life even when my life seems to be on the rocks. I must learn to spend time simply being with God, gazing at the Beauty that God is and becoming more aware of the Grace that has been extended me. . I must learn to give loving attention to Him just as I give those I call my dearest friends.
The question becomes then, what makes it so difficult to follow through with this knowledge?
Picturing Life 