Welcome

This is a blog that I post to several times a week although not necessarily daily. These reflections are triggered by the scripture found in the lectionary used by many Christian denominations. While I am part of the Catholic tradition, these posts are not --or rarely--sectarian. I try to put myself in the space of a of Jesus Christ and listen to words that come to me as I read and pray the scriptures. Each post also includes a photograph. These rarely have any connection to the content of the post but are simply pleasing images that I capture as I make my pilgrimage through life.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Unavoidable Paradox




In his daily meditation, Richard Rohr underscores the paradox of reality, all reality save the Divine. We can sense in ourselves both the goodness of our true self and the shadow that always presents itself. The same is true of every person and reality.

I think this is true in an even deeper sense. Every person or every thing that exists is a mystery. I can never completely know myself or others so that everything is known and the sense of mystery dispelled. My mind desires definition, to known something unambiguously and clearly. Yet I know that the only way I can achieve this sense of precision is to ignore part or parts of whatever reality I am trying to understand.

This is true not only because of the limitations of my mind and its ability to handle the complexities of reality but more fundamentally because reality itself is ambiguous and far from unitary. The insights of quantum physics lead to the same conclusion or insight. Since we cannot know both location and speed at the same time, everything that exists cannot be known in its fullness and complexity.

We are left with two possibilities. First we can approximate full knowledge which is to say that we can know something "well enough" to be able to operate effectively in the classical mechanics world in which we live. Second, we can rest in the paradox of reality through a practice of meditation and presence. We don't have to know--in the sense of defining and thus controlling--someone or something in order to simply be present to that person or thing.

In fact, this "being present" may be the best way we can fashion to actually "know" someone or something.

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Location:Charissa Run,Rochester,United States

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