One of my favorite daily readings is On The Threshold of Transformation by Richard Rohr. I have this kind of crazy love hate relationship with Father Rohr – no lie, I either really love or really hate his insight. He often challenges me so deeply that I can’t help but love him, but then there are his social and political views that can really get under my skin.
I read this devotional for the first time about twelve months ago and knew that the Michael Hindes of ten years ago would’ve absolutely hated it. But the Michael Hindes of today keeps going back to it. I can’t seem to get away from it’s insight. It’s growing on me…
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Day 185
Gods who Shit
One wonderful result of initiation is the gut experience that your life is not about you at all. You are about life! Can you make that switch? You are a glorious part of creation, but you’re not the center of anything. An effective initiation aligns you correctly inside the universe; you belong more than ever, but you no longer see yourself as the reference point. You are both a beloved son of God and a “little shit”, as I love to say. I got the phrase from Ernest Becker’s life-changing book, The Denial of Death. He said that the truth we must, but at times cannot, reconcile is that we humans are “gods that shit”.
I hope you’re relieved to make this discovery. You no longer have to fix everything, figure out everything, do it all right, or be anything more than fully human. You will now take yourself more seriously as a beloved son of God, and yet will not take yourself seriously at all. This seems like a contradiction only before your are initiated. Afterwards it makes total sense.
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Hope you liked it…
Initiation is a primary theme of Rohr. For more insight on this topic read his book Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation.