[OSList] Fwd: Richard Rohr Meditation: On the Edge of the Inside

doug ost at footprintsinthewind.com
Tue Mar 23 02:55:00 PST 2021


Marc and Michael--

Thank you to you each for such evocative posts.

And your reminder to be totally present and totally invisible suggests 
to me the impossible work that ancestors and elders do in our midst, and 
opening space for them to do so.

:- Doug. Germann

On 3/22/21 6:32 AM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList wrote:
> 
> Dear Marc,
> 
> got me thinking, thanks.
> 
> It reminds me of how I always felt about the force of selforganisation 
> needing more space to do its stuff... and that space is always open but 
> dwarfed by what is expressed in part of the text to "On the edge of the 
> inside":
> 
>   “Because the totalism [that is, the system] wants
> to silence, banish, or eliminate every such unwelcome [prophetic] 
> intrusion..."
> 
> For many years people working and living in a church context (protestant 
> in my experience) found ways to gather in spite of the totalism also 
> deeply entrenched in church structures. On the edge they organised many 
> OST events and were exhilarated by what took place in such a setting.
> 
> And as a witness of such events I was more than exhilarated, feeling 
> liberated.
> 
> As selforganiation is presently unfolding not only in church systems 
> (for instance in the catholic church in Germany in the context of sexual 
> abuse in the chuch) but also at many places all over I see gorgeous 
> opportunities for our work with OST.
> 
> But, careful, we need to be totally present and ad the same time 
> invisible and await the opening of opportunities that will reach us 
> without us doing nothing but the extremely hard work of being totally 
> present and at the same time invisible.
> 
> Have a great week, here we have sunny transition from winter to 
> spring... balsm for my old hear...
> 
> cheers
> mmp
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Am 22.03.2021 um 11:02 schrieb Marc C. Trudeau via OSList:
>  > This hit my inbox today. I think it’s about opening space.
>  >
>  > Marc Trudeau
>  > mobile 774-641-8302 <tel:774-641-8302>
>  > LikeBreathin.com <http://likebreathin.com/>
>  >
>  > Begin forwarded message:
>  >
>  >> *From:* Center for Action and Contemplation <Meditations at cac.org>
>  >> *Date:* March 21, 2021 at 2:11:59 AM EDT
>  >> *To:* "Marc C. Trudeau" <marctrudeau at alum.wpi.edu>
>  >> *Subject:* *Richard Rohr Meditation: On the Edge of the Inside*
>  >> *Reply-To:* Meditations at cac.org
>  >>
>  >> 
>  >> Prophecy and Gospel are rooted in a way of being in the world that is
>  >> utterly free and grounded in the compassion of God. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
>  >> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
>  >> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
>  >> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
>  >> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
>  >> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
>  >> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
>  >> ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
>  >>
>  >> No images? Click here <https://email.cac.org/t/d-e-qwhrg-tlkrhhkhkl-f/>
>  >>
>  >> Sunday, March 21st, 2021
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>   Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
>  >>
>  >> From the Center for Action and Contemplation
>  >>
>  >> Image credit: Dorothea Lange, Tractored Out (detail), 1938,
>  >> photograph, public domain.
>  >> <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qwhrg-tlkrhhkhkl-r/>
>  >>
>  >> Week Twelve: Prophetic Imagination
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>     On the Edge of the Inside
>  >>
>  >> In the fall of 2020, I began sending out occasional letters that I
>  >> called “Letters from Outside the Camp,” a reference to the many usages
>  >> of “outside the camp” in the Hebrew Bible. It is a prophetic position
>  >> “on the edge of the inside,” which is described by the early
>  >> Israelites as “the tent of meeting outside the camp” (Exodus 33:7).
>  >> Even though this tent is foldable, moveable, and disposable, it is
>  >> still a meeting place for “the holy,” which is always on the move and
>  >> out in front of us. The free and graced position found in the tent of
>  >> meeting is what allowed Jesus and all prophets in his lineage to speak
>  >> from the privileged minority position. It is always less desirable,
>  >> compared to the comfortable and enjoyable places at the center and the
>  >> top; yet it is the Jesus stance, and the place where all Franciscans
>  >> follow after him.
>  >>
>  >> The prophet exercises his or her /imagination /from that place of
>  >> freedom/, /as my favorite Scripture scholar Walter Brueggemann
>  >> describes so well: /“Because the totalism [that is, the system] wants
>  >> to silence, banish, or eliminate every such unwelcome [prophetic]
>  >> intrusion, the tricky work is to find standing ground outside the
>  >> totalism from which to think the unthinkable, to imagine the
>  >> unimaginable, and to utter the unutterable.”/ [1]
>  >>
>  >> The “tent of meeting” is the initial image and metaphor that
>  >> eventually became our much later notion of “church.” The greatest
>  >> prophet of the Jewish tradition, Moses, had the prescience and courage
>  >> to move the place of hearing God outside and at a distance from the
>  >> court of common religious and civic opinion—this was the original
>  >> genius that inspired the entire Jewish prophetic tradition. It is
>  >> quite different than mere liberal and conservative positions, and
>  >> often even at odds with them. Prophecy and Gospel are rooted in a
>  >> contemplative and non-dual way of knowing—a way of being in the world
>  >> that is utterly free and grounded in the compassion of God.
>  >>
>  >> It inspires me to wonder how we might maintain that same sense of
>  >> prophetic freedom outside the contemporary political and religious
>  >> “encampments” of our day. For those of us who are sincerely and
>  >> devotedly trying to camp elsewhere than in any political party or
>  >> religious denomination, we know full well that we must now avoid the
>  >> temptation to become our own defended camp.
>  >>
>  >> Somehow our occupation and vocation as believers in this time must be
>  >> to first restore the Divine Center by holding it and fully occupying
>  >> it ourselves. If contemplation means anything, it means that we can
>  >> “safeguard that little piece of You, God, in ourselves” as Etty
>  >> Hillesum describes it. [2] What other power do we have now?
>  >>
>  >> [1] Walter Brueggemann, /Tenacious Solidarity: Biblical Provocations
>  >> on Race, Religion, Climate, and the Economy/ (Fortress Press: 2018), 
> 384.
>  >>
>  >> [2] Etty Hillesum, /An Interrupted Life: The Diaries, 1941–1943; and,
>  >> Letters from Westerbork/, trans. Arnold J. Pomerans (Henry Holt and
>  >> Company: 1996), 178.
>  >>
>  >> Adapted from Richard Rohr, “Some Simple but Urgent Guidance,”
>  >> September 21, 2020; “Letters from Outside the Camp 3,” November 2,
>  >> 2020; “Letters from Outside the Camp 4,” January 19, 2021.
>  >>
>  >> *Image credit:* Dorothea Lange, /Tractored Out/ (detail), 1938,
>  >> photograph, public domain
>  >> <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qwhrg-tlkrhhkhkl-y/>.
>  >>
>  >> *Image inspiration:* A lonely house on barren, tilled earth may tell
>  >> us hard truths of what has been, what is, and what is to come.
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>       *Prayer For Our Community*
>  >>
>  >> /Loving God, you fill all things with a fullness and hope that we can
>  >> never comprehend. Thank you for leading us into a time where more of
>  >> reality is being unveiled for us all to see. We pray that you will
>  >> take away our natural temptation for cynicism, denial, fear and
>  >> despair. Help us have the courage to awaken to greater truth, greater
>  >> humility, and greater care for one another. May we place our hope in
>  >> what matters and what lasts, trusting in your eternal presence and
>  >> love. Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our suffering
>  >> world. Please add your own intentions . . . Knowing, good God, you are
>  >> hearing us better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all
>  >> the holy names of God. Amen./
>  >> Listen to Father Richard pray this prayer aloud.
>  >> <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qwhrg-tlkrhhkhkl-j/>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>       *Story From Our Community*
>  >>
>  >> /When I heard Richard Rohr interviewed by Krista Tippett, my whole
>  >> being sang. He gave words to what I have always intuitively felt but
>  >> couldn’t explain. Reading Richard Rohr has led me to others who have
>  >> also helped me realize that religion is merely a finger pointing to
>  >> the moon. I would now say that I am an inter-spiritual person who is
>  >> aware that I must go down in order to go up. This is both frightening
>  >> and exhilarating. And I am so grateful./
>  >> —Kael S.
>  >> Share your own story with us.
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>  >>
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>  >>
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>  >>
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>  >>
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>  >> joys, triumphs, setbacks and sufferings—through the eyes of Love.
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>       *Explore the Prophetic Wisdom of Mary Magdalene*
>  >>
>  >> Discover how Mary Magdalene’s teachings can transform our 21st century
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>  >>
>  >> Explore Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations archive at cac.org
>  >> <https://email.cac.org/t/d-l-qwhrg-tlkrhhkhkl-k/>.
>  >>
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