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No images? Click here Saturday, February 11, 2023 Richard Rohr's Daily MeditationFrom the Center for Action and Contemplation Week Six Summary The Transforming Power of LoveFebruary 5–February 10, 2023
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Week Six Practice Interpreting the Scriptures with JesusFather Richard outlines a prayerful practice of interpreting Scripture the way Jesus did: Offer a prayer for guidance from the Holy Spirit before interpreting an important text. This begins to decenter our egoic need to make the text say what we want or need it to say. Pray as long as it takes to get to this inner intellectual freedom and detachment.Once we have attained some honest degree of intellectual and emotional freedom, we must try to move to a position of detachment from our own will and its goals, needs, and desires.Then listen for a deeper voice that isn’t our own. We will know that it isn’t the ego because it will never shame or frighten us, but rather strengthen us, even when it is challenging us. If it is God’s voice, it will take away our illusions and our violence so completely and naturally that we can barely identify with such previous feelings! I call this God’s replacement therapy.If the interpretation leads our True Self to experience any or several of the fruits of the Spirit, as they are listed in Galatians 5:22–23—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, and self-control—I think we can trust this interpretation is from the Spirit, from the deeper stream of wisdom.If any negative or punitive emotions—such as morose delight, feelings of superiority, self-satisfaction, arrogant dualistic certitude, desire for revenge, need for victory, or any spirit of dismissal or exclusion—arise from the interpretation, this is not the Jesus hermeneutic at work, but our own ego still steering the ship.Finally, remember the temptation of Jesus in the desert (see Matthew 4:1–11). Three temptations to the misuse of power are listed—economic, religious, and political. Even Jesus must face these subtle disguises before he begins any public ministry; this is a warning to all of us. Adapted from Richard Rohr, What Do We Do with the Bible? (Albuquerque, NM: Center for Action and Contemplation, 2018), 52–54. Image credit: A path from one week to the next—Benjamin Yazza, Untitled 7. Jenna Keiper, Bisti Badlands. Benjamin Yazza, Untitled 6. Used with permission. Click here to enlarge image. The landscape of our own lives informs how we understand Scripture and Tradition. 2023 Theme: The Prophetic PathPractice with UsExplore FurtherMeet the TeamJOIN NOWWas this email forwarded to you? Sign-up for the monthly newsletter from the Center for Action and Contemplation for the latest news about our programs, including new books, podcasts, events, and online learning opportunities. The work of the Center for Action and Contemplation is possible only because of people like you! Learn more about how you can help support this work. If you would like to change how you receive these emails you can update your preferences or unsubscribe from our list.
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