Week 4 - Heights Christian Church

FALLING UPWARDS by Richard Rohr: Session 4Heights Christian Church, Lent, 2013Joe LaGuardia1Monday, March 18, 13

The Fifth Theme:0 Fifth Theme: The separate self is the problem, whereas most religion and most people make the “shadow self” the problem. This leads to denial, pretending, and projecting instead of real transformation into the Divine (TRANSFORMATION).Monday, March 18, 13

The Sixth Theme:0 Sixth Theme: The path of descent is the path of transformation. Darkness, failure, relapse, death, and woundedness are our primary teachers, rather than ideas or doctrines (PROCESS).Monday, March 18, 13

Tasks for This Week0 Issues from last week0 Your Insights0 Bear with me as I attempt toskim the surface of Rohr’sbig concepts and invite youto go deeper into them.5Monday, March 18, 13

Doing First Half Well0 Requires impulse control, tradition, group symbols, family loyalties, respect for authority, civil and church laws, a sense of goodness, and valuing the special importance of your community, ethnicity, and religion.0 Otherwise, we try to build a superstructure without a real foundation. It’s better to begin conservative. 0 Without the 10 Commandments, human life would be anarchy and chaos. 0 But then we need to hold ourselves inside the tension between law and freedom and allow ourselves to grow!7Monday, March 18, 13

But Then, Move On…0 If we have not done the ìrst half well, we may try to do it over as a neo-‐conservative, but only succeed in becoming a devotee of upward mobility and emphasizing old fashioned symbols and styles. 0 Rohr: Jesus talk among prisoners was often a signal to him of “regressive restoration of a failed ìrst half of life.”0 You can get stuck in a new tribalism—a desire to return to the good old days (see St. Thomas Aquinas College)—is found in all of the world’s religions0 Mature elders have achieved a trans-‐partisan nature! (and trans-‐personal?)8Monday, March 18, 13

Discharge Your Loyal Soldier0 Return to the community as a citizen0 The loyal soldier gets us through the hell of the First Half of life, “teaches us to say no; gives us dignity, identity, direction, a sense of place, helps us deal with ego, testosterone, addiction (see Subversivepreacher 3-‐11-‐ 13 re: The Prodigal Son story), promiscuity, vanity.”0 DANGER: Confusing the voice of the loyal soldier with the voice of God (because it is the voice of early authorities and can level shame, guilt, warnings and self-‐doubt.). 0 The soldier can NOT get you into the Second Half because he’s never been there! 10Monday, March 18, 13

11Subversive Preacher (Sermon 2 of his lastfive—see link on previous slide). Listen: He thought climbing out of addiction, becoming sober, was allhe had to do BUT he found he had to “discharge his loyal soldier” See his interpretation of what that meant for HIS life What does that mean for OUR life? Does “to enter into the Christ mystery” mean that we, with allof our scandalous particularity and our past unforgiveable sins(if any), and our suffering, are loved?Monday, March 18, 13

The Ego vs. the Voice of God 0 The Ego always loses because it is ìghting God.0 The loyal soldier attempts to substitute small, low-‐cost moral issues for the real ones that ask US to change instead of trying to change other people (cf. PD editorial on bishops ìghting contraception and avoiding major issues)0 The voice of God sounds like risk, surrender, love, your deepest self, an intimate stranger. 0 Discharging occurs usually between 35 and 55 if at all. 0 Difìcult to do unless you have a guide (Beatrice or Bernadette) or a stumbling block (see the chapter on that). 12Monday, March 18, 13

Sin Happens When We Refuse to Keep Growing0 Hades and Sheol may be the necessary path to heaven. 0 “He descended into hell…”0 It feels like a loss of faith or of self.0 You won’t know the transformation is happening, but the False Self is dying. 0 God undoes our illusions secretly13Monday, March 18, 13

Life is death and resurrection, chaos andhealing at the same time; nature is moredisorder than order Life is inherently tragic and only faith canaccept that truth! Exceptions keep us humble and searching: lovethem!We have a history of excluding people who donot think “right” When God forgives, he is saying his rules don’tmatter as much as the relationship he wantswith us! Jesus is never upset at sinners, only with thosewho do not think they are sinners. The GospelThe Tragic Sense of Life(if you only read one chapter, read chapter14Monday, March 18, 13

The Stumbling Stone0 “Sooner or later something will enter your life that you cannot deal with. 0 This is the only way life-‐fate-‐God-‐Grace-‐Mystery can get you to change!”0 Through falling, losing, failing, transgression, sin, you discover a new self the real source, the Higher Power.0 For Jesus, this was the cruciìxion (the cross revealed our pattern of scapegoating and sacriìcing others)0 If you didn’t do the First Half well, you won’t have the resources to rise up; you either lie in defeat or kick against the stumbling stone. Kiss it. Dance!15Monday, March 18, 13

NECESSARY SUFFERINGJung: Unnecessary suffering comes from not accepting the legitimate suffering that comes from being human. The natural world ‘believes’ in necessary suffering. It just can’t say yes or no to it. “Hating family” is necessary to move to the Second Half; people are kept from mature religion because of the pious, immature, or rigid expectations of family (the way everybody you grew up with thinks)16Monday, March 18, 13

Trying to Get Beyond0 When you try to get beyond family of origin, culture, local church, `lag and country stuff, your loyal soldier will smother you with guilt and self-‐doubt as if it were the voice of God. [WHAT AM I DOING?]0 You have to “leave home.” 0 You have to lose the false self: role, title, personal image? How much of the false self are you willing to shed? 0 The True Self is who you objectively are from the beginning, in the mind and heart of God.17Monday, March 18, 13

Home and Homesickness0 You have to leave to ìnd your mission in life and then return home, but home is then a new place. 0 90% ignore this call to return to our radical union with God0 The Holy Spirit is that aspect of God that works within and secretly0 We ìnd God in ourselves and ìnd ourselves in God0 Spirituality is a co-‐breathing between us and God0 The world is made of inspirited matter that continues to create and re-‐create itself. God’s form of creation is evolution! God is fully incarnate (uniìed ìeld)18Monday, March 18, 13

"God particle“ Higgs BosonThe kettle is boiling because I want a cup of tea!“The central point of reality is a personal being who loves and sustains the world…” The Christian Century. Dec. 26, 2012, p. 23.19Monday, March 18, 13

Tasks for This Week0 Email me with comments, issues (as Cam Miller did in his blog before a Sunday’s sermon in Buffalo)0 Consider: what have you tried and failed to accomplish?0 Read and comment: What doesIt mean to “Discharge your loyalSoldier?”20Monday, March 18, 13

Next Sunday:0 Don’t forget to email me with any questions, comments, or issues you’d like to hear more about0 Read the remainder of the book!0 See these PowerPoints online at the HCC website under “Adult Education”Session 5 is Next!21Monday, March 18, 13

Week 4 - Heights Christian Church

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