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Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation

From the Center for Action and Contemplation

Week Fourteen

Reality Initiating Us:
Part Two

Lesson Two: Your Name Is Written in Heaven
Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Click here to watch a special video or listen to the audio of Richard Rohr introducing Holy Week and this week's Daily Meditation theme on "Reality Initiating Us," addressing our current global crisis as a collective initiation experience which we are all undergoing.

You are not important, and yet Jesus says, “Rejoice because your name is written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

We need a still point in this twirling world of images and feelings, especially in a time such as ours. If we are tethered at some center point, it is amazing how far out we can fly and not get lost. The True Self, "our name in heaven," is our participation in the great “I Am.” It is what Peter daringly calls the “ability to share the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). This True Self is characterized by contentment, an abiding low-level peace and happiness. Every now and then it even becomes pure joy.

If there is no list of names in eternity, no confidence that we are known and chosen by God, we are burdened with making a name for ourselves every day. We must be self-made, every person out for themselves in a dog-eat-dog world, vying with one another for zero-sum dignity and importance. Instead of comparison, envy, competition, and scarcity, authentic spirituality is an experience of abundance and mutual flourishing. We are tempted to count only our material and ego gifts which decrease with usage, whereas spiritual gifts actually increase with each use, in ourselves and in those around us.

If we have no foundational significance, we must constantly attempt to self-signify and self-validate. Everyone is then a competitor and rival. We cannot help but be pushed around by our neediness and judgments, and we will push others around too. If we have no unshakable experience of divine approval, we will be lost in fragile momentary experiences of “victory” that cannot be sustained or really enjoyed.

We must find our North Star outside our own little comparative systems or we will be lost in rivalry and daily defeat. It is a whole different way of looking at what we mean by “God saving us." God first of all saves us from ourselves, our emotional neediness and hurt, and our obsessive mind games. Then the truth of being is obvious and all around us.

Our importance is given and bestowed in this universe as part of the unbreakable covenant between us and our Creator. We are declared important “from the beginning” (Ephesians 1:4, 9), and when we really know it, we have no need to prove it. We are reminded who we really are in God when Jesus tells us that our “name is written in heaven.” Surely God holds medical workers and first responders close to God’s heart right now, as they put their lives on the line to support us all. The courage they are showing is the kind of courage that comes from knowing the value of life. I pray we might all operate from that place as we struggle through the coming days.

Gateway to Action & Contemplation:
What word or phrase resonates with or challenges me? What sensations do I notice in my body? What is mine to do?

Prayer for Our Community:
O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all beings. Help us become a community that vulnerably shares each other’s burdens and the weight of glory. Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our world. [Please add your own intentions.] . . . Knowing you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all the holy names of God, amen.

Listen to Fr. Richard read the prayer.

Story from Our Community:
It hardly matters what day it is any more, since the future is so unclear. I sit quietly, and I open my heart and mind for the unexpected. My prayers of the heart are "humility, through mystery," and "peace, through acceptance." –C. Thorman

Share your own story with us.

Adapted from Richard Rohr, Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation, (Crossroad Publishing Company: 2004), 44, 155–157.

Image Credit: Jesus’ Entry into Jerusalem (Entrada de Jesús en Jerusalén) (detail), Master of San Baudelio of Berlanga, Soria, Spain, 1125, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana.

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News from the CAC

Illuman

In 2012 as Fr. Richard Rohr’s focus shifted to founding the Living School and recovering a Christian path to unitive consciousness, his male-specific work transitioned away from the CAC into Illuman, a global nonprofit organization committed to carrying on Fr. Richard’s work to recover traditional patterns of male initiation, affirm a path to masculine healing, reveal the true and false self, and honor the path of descent. They seek to form future generations of men who will restore these practices, serving to build a world that celebrates the beauty of all beings through the power of ritual, image, story, and council. If you’re interested in learning more about Illuman, you can sign-up for information on their next event, Soularize 2020: A Path to Masculine Healing, featuring Fr. Richard as a guest speaker.

Enneagram Mapmakers Podcast

How can we lean into the Enneagram to experience hope and healing? Explore the interior landscapes of the ego as Christopher Heuertz, author of The Sacred Enneagram and The Enneagram of Belonging, interviews legacy Enneagram teachers such as Richard Rohr, Helen Palmer and Russ Hudson. Listen to Enneagram Mapmakers each week on our website or on your favorite podcast player.

Turning to the Mystics Podcast

Leaning into the lives of the mystics can be a gateway to hope, healing and oneness, especially during times of personal struggle and collective crisis. Join James Finley as he unpacks the wisdom of Thomas Merton in a way poignant and relevant to the times we live. New episodes of Turning to the Mystics release each week.

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.

In this year’s Daily Meditations, Father Richard helps us learn the dance of action and contemplation. Each week builds on previous topics, but you can join at any time! Click the video to learn more about the theme and to find reflections you may have missed.

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Inspiration for this week's banner image: “Can any of you, for all of your worrying, add a single moment to your span of life?” (Luke 12:26)