Fr. Richard Rohr gets it right … on God’s perfection
Those of you who have read Chapters 4 and 5 of my new book will understand why I was struck by these words from Richard Rohr in his daily email meditation today:
PATH OF DESCENT
Question of the Day: How does one incorporate imperfection?
In a Navajo rug there is always one clear imperfection woven into the pattern. And interestingly enough, this is precisely where the Spirit moves in and out of the rug! The Semitic mind, the Eastern mind (which, by the way, Jesus would have been much closer to) understands perfection in precisely that way. The East is much more comfortable with paradox, mystery, and non-dual thinking than the Western mind which is formed by Greek logic.
Perfection is not the elimination of imperfection, as we think. Divine perfection is, in fact, the ability to recognize, forgive, and include imperfection!—just as God does with all of us. Only in this way can we find the beautiful and hidden wholeness of God underneath the passing human show. It is the gift of non-dual thinking and seeing, which itself is a gift of love, suffering, and grace. In fact, this is the radical grace that grounds all holy seeing and doing. ~ Richard Rohr, February 2010
This is very much the conclusion I come to in my reading of Genesis in the early chapters of A New Kind of Christianity. God's perfection doesn't merely reject or punish evil: it overwhelms it with good. Amazing grace!
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Q & R: On apologetics
Here's the Q:
I am in the middle of your book New Kind of Christianity, and am really
excited about many of your ideas. One question I have that has been
nagging at the back of my mind as I read your stuff, comes back to
apologetics. Do you have any thoughts on what a new apologetic might look
like? It seems to me that winning arguments is no longer the goal; that
instead we are seeking to engage in conversations (as you point out quite
helpfully). I have found myself at a crossroads lately because my two
favorite courses of study are Jesus and apologetics. But am I right in
thinking that these two ideas are somewhat opposed to one another? Or am I
missing something? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Reply after the jump.
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Take a small action for justice.
One of the organizations I greatly respect for their justice-related work is Association for a More Just Society (AJS) in Honduras. An AJS staff member was assassinated there a few years ago because he dared to challenge some unjust practices by a powerful corporation. Now, a friend of mine who works with AJS is being taken to court in an attempt to silence their important work. You can read about the situation here, and you can take just a few minutes and send an email on behalf of AJS here. Sending emails like this lets officials know that they are being watched by the international community. I hope you'll let your voice be heard!
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Updates about the new book …
Here's a recent interview with Welton Gaddy from State of Belief ... Welton is an energetic interviewer - I think you'll enjoy our conversation.
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