Holy Saturday...In musical imagery, this time is like "rests"...spaces...pauses between the notes. It's what we try to allow to happen in meditation...I originally thought to write "It's what we DO in meditation"...but chose "to allow" instead...Gradually, we are invited to bring this practice of mindful presence with us into our day...
Phil Lesh...Walking his father home...
A co-write from bassist Phil Lesh and Robert Hunter, Box Of Rain would also mark Lesh’s first lead vocal. According to Hunter, “Phil Lesh wanted a song to sing to his dying father and had composed a piece complete with every vocal nuance but the words. If ever a lyric ‘wrote itself’, this did – as fast as the pen would pull.” The result is a work of rare beauty and reflection that resonates through the decades as one of the best Grateful Dead songs.
“Some folks trust to reason/Others trust to might/I don’t trust to nothing/But I know it come out right”
--Playing in the Band - Grateful Dead
Set the (scape) Goats Free...Let my people goat....
"and the goat jumped over the sun..."
Sunday Human nature, when seeking power, wants either to play the victim or to create victims of others. Once we start feeling sorry for ourselves, we will soon find someone else to blame, accuse, or attack—and with impunity! —Richard Rohr
Monday If Jesus’s life reversed the fate of victims he had met, then his death reverses the fate of future victims. He becomes the scapegoat to end all scapegoats—and exposes the truth that could end human blame and violence once and for all. —Jennifer Garcia Bashaw
Tuesday The central message of Jesus on love of enemies, forgiveness, and care for those at the bottom was supposed to make scapegoating virtually impossible and unthinkable. —Richard Rohr
Wednesday Because God was present with Jesus on the cross and thereby refused to let Satan and death have the last word about his meaning, God was also present at every lynching in the United States…. The lynching tree is the cross in America. —James Cone
Thursday Jesus came to reveal and resolve the central and essential problem—humanity’s tendency toward fear and hate. Love is the totally enlightened, entirely nonsensical way out of this pattern. Love has to be worked toward, received, and enjoyed. —Richard Rohr
Friday God is not revealed in killing and conquest … in violence and hate. God is revealed in this crucified man—giving of himself to the very last breath, giving and forgiving. —Brian McLaren
Week Thirteen Practice
Lingering in the Tension
Author Kat Armas reflects on the spiritual practice of lingering in the tension between winter and spring, the cross and resurrection:
You know those last few weeks before spring, when winter is trying desperately to hold on, her bony fingers cold and frail, losing their grip to the warmth of the sun? The trees towering above your head might still be bare, but when you look down, buds of purple are sprinkled across the ground, bursting forth from earth’s womb….
If we pay close attention, we might notice the earth constantly beckoning us to receive this gift. On bended knees with cool breath and a warm touch, the natural world asks us to stay in this moment. Right here. A little longer.
Do you feel it?...
The life and death of Jesus offers an invitation to sit in a sacred tension, but many are not comfortable doing this. We are a people hell-bent on fix-its, uncomfortable with struggle or with sadness. Perhaps this is why, for many of us, Holy Saturday has long been ignored. This is the day between the death of Christ on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. In the immigrant Catholic church I attended with abuela [grandma] growing up, this holy day of waiting was as important as Easter Sunday because it mirrored our reality—the constant push and pull between sorrow and joy, death and resurrection. On this day, we lit velas (candles) and sat in front of the altar for what felt like years. We knew joy would come, but there was no rush. The holy tension was a space in which we felt most alive. I didn’t know it back then, but la Espíritu Santa [Holy Spirit] was forming something sacred in me.
Armas invites us to consider:
What moments of sacred tension stand out in your life? What did they speak to you about your humanity?
Back in "Ordinary" Time...
2024 Daily Meditations:Radical Resilience
Contemplation helps us engage with a world on fire — without burning up or out.
We live in a world on fire. As the flames of unjust societies, humanitarian disasters, and ecological crises flicker around us, it is easy to feel helpless and overwhelmed. How can we respond to this destructive era with wisdom, love, and peace?
The path ahead will be challenging, but we will walk it together. That is why this year the Daily Meditations will explore contemplation as a way to build Radical Resilience — tending our inner flame so we can stand in solidarity with the world without burning up or out.
What is Radical Resilience?
Radical Resilience is the ability to face hardship with greater love and deeper awareness. We believe that contemplation, the practice of being fully present, is one way to grow more resilient — teaching us how to sustain inner strength, purpose, and connectedness.
Contemplation shapes Radical Resilience as a way to choose love and peace over anger, denial, and despair. Imagining a better future begins by finding it within ourselves—only then can we help others tend to their own inner flame. Together we can live that better future out into the world. [More at link]
Practice With Us
Discover contemplative wisdom and practices that are easy to understand and apply to your everyday life.
Contemplation is the practice of being fully present—in heart, mind, and body—to what is in a way that deepens awareness, encourages oneness, and strengthens compassion. A committed daily contemplative practice doesn’t have to be long or complex—it simply needs to allow deep listening to open your heart to love.
Discover ways to embody the contemplative life with this collection of practices that help us align actions and values, re-engage with our True Self, and show up in service to the world.
Theresa Torres’ description of receiving her faith through her grandmother is a wonderful reflection of how faith was once passed down generation to generation. Her grandmother, or abuelita, inspires spirituality not as a religious creedal statement or morality code, but as a healing and transformational way of life. [More here]
Daily Meditations Team
Many hearts, heads, and hands go into creating Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations. We invite you to learn more about the team behind this important CAC program. [More here]