Isaiah 42:1-4
Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Meditation 1:
my servant;
I have put my spirit upon him;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching
Meditation 2:
that I may become open to the Holy Spirit
Meditation 3:
In becoming open to the Holy Spirit, that I may work at being non-judgmental of others;
that I may have a better understanding of myself, and try not to be hypocritical (take the plank–the shadow- out of my eye, in order to see clearly, to take the splinter out of my brother’s eye);
that I may be open to help others who are in need (am I being judgmental in thinking that I see others in need?)
I always love the passages that refer to the coastlands.
I hear this, this morning, as a booming call to non-violence. I wish the English language had a word for non-violence…
(Remember when reading this below, I had assumed that all have read the more detailed explanations of these thoughts in Rohr’s book.)
For a long time I have been perplexed by clerics (In my church only. I won’t comment on others.) who purport to believe what Jesus taught about love, compassion, loving your neighbor as yourself, yet who demand adherence to sets of rules and regulations that fly in the face of this compassion.
The same holds true for conservative politicians who purport to believe what Jesus taught, i.e., Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, et al, yet are so oblivious to the actual consequences of their rigid rules of conduct for those less fortunate than themselves, i.e., cutting food stamps, cutting Medicaid on the state level, working to prevent LBGT equality, etc.
Rohr nailed it with his description of the three stages of spiritual development. First the rigid boundaries needed by the spiritually immature; then the questioning phase, and finally the understanding of the why of the rules and regulations, and examining alternatives to the rigid adherence to them.
My example is abortion. Abortion is evil. The immature make rules and regulations to prevent abortion, putting that prevention above all else, including the fact that the clinics also provide other needed health care for women. The second phase is the realization that the clinics do provide other health care, and is closing them the best option. The third phase is when abortion foes sit down with women and discuss how is the best way to prevent abortions, while still providing needed services.
There are rabid environmentalists who also fall into the first phase of spiritual development as well, by the way.