All great spirituality is about what we do with our pain. If we do not transform our pain, we will transmit it to those around us.
Interpretation
Our spiritual growth hinges on how we handle our pain, as unprocessed pain can negatively affect others.
Richard Rohr emphasizes that the essence of spirituality lies in the way we deal with our suffering. He suggests that if we do not actively transform our pain into wisdom or understanding, we risk passing that unresolved pain onto others, potentially causing harm in our relationships and communities.
In practice
During a workshop on personal development, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of addressing emotional pain.
My scientist friends have come up with things like 'principles of uncertainty' and dark holes. They're willing to live inside imagined hypotheses and theories. But many religious folks insist on answers that are always true. We love closure, resolution and clarity, while thinking that we are people of 'faith'! How strange that the very word 'faith' has come to mean its exact opposite.
The gift of darkness draws you to know God’s presence beyond what thought, imagination, or sensory feeling can comprehend.
I cannot illustrate huge differences between male and female spiritualities except in their starting points, style and fascinations along the way. This is significant, however, and has huge pastoral implications: men must be challenged in the world of doing; women must be challenged in the world of relating.
Much of the Christian religion has largely become “holding on” instead of letting go. But God, it seems to me, does the holding on (to us!), and we must learn the letting go (of everything else).
We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.
I've had the good fortune of teaching and preaching across much of the globe, while also struggling to make sense of my experience in my own tiny world.
Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
It is a great thing to know your vices.
I mentioned the non-competitive spirit explicitly, because these days, excellence is a fashionable concept. But excellence is a competitive notion, and that is not what we are heading for: we are heading for perfection.
It's helpful to remind yourself that meditation is about opening and relaxing with whatever arises, without picking and choosing.
Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked.
Over time, I've paid attention, taken notes and forgotten easily half of everything I've gone through.
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