I’m currently reading Pope Francis’s autobiography Hope: The Autobiography. It’s a book that page after page confirmed for me Francis’s pastoral concern for all people, bar none. Although the book is titled Hope, Francis suffers with those who suffer.
Couldn't agree more. The whole thing was staged for TV. Trump admitted as much at the end of the shouting match. Vance was instructed to be an attack dog. Shame on him. Trump knows no shame, he's a psychopath.
Mike: thanks for your comments. See my post this upcoming Tuesday as responsive to your comment about it being hard for us to get beyond the determination of our culture.
Praying "as we are" suggests a humility and self-realization of not only our human condition but our culture as determinative. If we are the pages, it seems to be the book cover. And it is hard to get beyond it. I think mystics might get beyond their "frame" like icons try to do. I believe that prayer, whether using Psalms or not, is best assessed on whether it results in our becoming more human, more personal, more connected, more thoughtful, more integral, more holistic, more peaceful, more just. This means more senses attuned to what matters and how we enter into helping the pockets of world we inhabit. Prayer helps form the heart we act out of. What counts is what our God will reckon as creatively eternal--what belongs because it is needed, warranted, and blessed. I think of King David who obviously prayed but who also built construction for his concubines that had more square footage than the temple. Jesus seemed to realize in the desert this pull of culture and how to move in a different direction; often needing to turn to mountaintop prayer to abide faithfully. Our knowing and unknowing brings us back to the humility of prayer and action so we see with vision and move with gentleness.
Couldn't agree more. The whole thing was staged for TV. Trump admitted as much at the end of the shouting match. Vance was instructed to be an attack dog. Shame on him. Trump knows no shame, he's a psychopath.
Mike: thanks for your comments. See my post this upcoming Tuesday as responsive to your comment about it being hard for us to get beyond the determination of our culture.
Your topic is timely given the disgusting display "not statesmenship" in the Oval Office yesterday (Fri, 2/28).
Those 3 important words could have brought the world closer to a real solution if they had been spoken out loud by all 3 of the belligerents.
Praying "as we are" suggests a humility and self-realization of not only our human condition but our culture as determinative. If we are the pages, it seems to be the book cover. And it is hard to get beyond it. I think mystics might get beyond their "frame" like icons try to do. I believe that prayer, whether using Psalms or not, is best assessed on whether it results in our becoming more human, more personal, more connected, more thoughtful, more integral, more holistic, more peaceful, more just. This means more senses attuned to what matters and how we enter into helping the pockets of world we inhabit. Prayer helps form the heart we act out of. What counts is what our God will reckon as creatively eternal--what belongs because it is needed, warranted, and blessed. I think of King David who obviously prayed but who also built construction for his concubines that had more square footage than the temple. Jesus seemed to realize in the desert this pull of culture and how to move in a different direction; often needing to turn to mountaintop prayer to abide faithfully. Our knowing and unknowing brings us back to the humility of prayer and action so we see with vision and move with gentleness.