Today’s scripture: Hebrews 5:11-14 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (David Zier):
In Fr. Richard Rohr’s book, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, the main message is that the spiritual life is not static. Jesus teaches us this when he talks about being “perfect” (the Greek word teleios, meaning mature or growth to completion) in his encounter with the rich young ruler in Matthew 19. The young man took a “fall” from that encounter in the way he thought about “right living,” leaving Jesus very sad when he realized he did not measure up as he thought he had. The story ends there, so we do not know what happens next for him.
Rohr presents in his book that those who have fallen, failed, or “gone down” are the ones who understand “up.” He explains that I will come to a crisis in life, and after the crisis, if I am open to it, I will enter a space of spiritual refreshment, peace, and compassion that I could not have imagined before. My brain tumor in 1993 comes to mind for me right away. It nearly killed me, it distorted my appearance for a period of time, it caused me to contemplate death, and it rearranged what was important in life. I was vulnerable and could not do anything for myself; I felt like I was living someone else’s life; and I prayed for hours and hours many times a week about what was to come about after all this.
It is easy to think that the “second half” of life is about getting old, dealing with health issues, and letting go of life. Spiritual growth happens when we fall and deal with the hard times of life, because it helps to bring more spiritual richness to the second half, after we fall.
In today’s scripture reading, solid food is what helps us get to that second half of life. I remember in my early 20s, I thought I had arrived and I was ready to take over the world. Rohr discusses the “first half” of life as a time when we focus on our career, friends, finding a spouse, success, making a name for ourselves, etc. This can make us become “dull in understanding” (verse 11). The focus is on “me,” what “I” think, what “I” want, and “my” opinion which counts more then anything. God can become distant by our own doing and we remain an infant (verse 13). Boom! Brain tumor!
Rohr says that if we are open to the second half of life, we learn to hear a deeper voice of God: “It will sound an awful lot like the voices of risk, of trust, of surrender, of soul, of ‘common sense,’ of destiny, of love, of an intimate stranger, of your deepest self.” It sounds like he is saying that we focus on God (not ourselves), on God’s leading in our lives, and what it means to treat others with the forgiveness, kindness, mercy, and love that Jesus taught us. How are we transformed by God and God’s Word?
This is a continuum. We may have one foot in each half, still learning from falling down, having to survive on baby food, then the other foot takes a step into the other half where we are on solid food and we become spiritually more mature.
Thought for the day: How am I falling upward, and what kind of spiritual food am I eating?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.