Ancient Anglican

The essence of the Christian life is that we stand together in this confession that “I am the chief sinner.” It is only in my recognition that I should be leading the goats into everlasting perdition that I can “humbly count others better than myself” and model Christ (Phil. 2:3).

The antidote to meaningless discussions and legalistic morality is a love that comes from “a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.” (v.5).

Like the Risen Christ, we may still bear wounds and will still encounter the problems of being in this world, however, the Divine Love is there to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things with and for us.

This intimacy with God is not a matter of us searching out and finding God, but simply allowing ourselves to be open to being found by God. 

For the Franciscans, the Cross doesn’t change God’s opinion of us (as damnable sinners who need to be redeemed), rather it changes our opinion about God (not as a deity demanding a sacrifice but as an eternally loving reality that desires communion with us despite our brokenness).

Whenever we put forth a truth statement, that statement must be true to all people, at all times, in all places, and in all disciplines. Rohr’s basic point is that God’s pattern and presence is everywhere and so discoverable by anyone.

God’s agapic love to and for all things is also his erotic love of moving all things towards himself, and our agapic self-abandonment of all things to God is our erotic acquisition of him. 

The existential gap between the Divine Reality and our Human Condition is closed only through the union of the Human and the Divine in Jesus Christ. And in the closing of that gap, we find our True Self.

When we reduce Jesus to simply a historical figure, then we miss out on the greater understanding of the universal Christ in whom we all live, and move, and have our being.

If your religion does not transform your consciousness to one of compassion, it is more of a problem than a solution.

One of the great falsehoods of the False Self is the individuality of the self – that each of us is wholly unique, special, superior, and self-adequate

The false self is the “trappings of the ego that we all use to get us through an ordinary day.” It is the identifying characteristics you share when meeting someone for the first time.