Lever And Place To Stand

I like Richard Rohr.  He’s a Franciscan priest whose works I’ve read for many years.   I recently read one his books I bought about five years ago.  Nice discovery.  Entitled “A lever and a place to stand: the contemplative stance and active prayer” and endorsed by James Martin, SJ, his book really does provide a space to stand where we can lever away obstacles for our transformation.

For example, Rohr says: “Any religion that tells you differently that it can all be a learning curve of upward success – is lying to you.  That is not how transformation happens.  That’s why we don’t have transformative religion but largely religion as a belonging system; religion as a belief system that really ask almost nothing of you; or religion as a reward/punishment system, which of course, doesn’t really invite you to fall in love with God at all, but relies on conformity, along with disguised threat, shame, and fear.”

Tough words for Catholics to hear to be sure, but true especially when he says “religion can only recover its purpose as transformational system if it overcomes its own temptation to embrace power, certitude, wealth, and fundamentalism.”  One other gem is his conclusion that “the Bible is biased; it takes the side of the rejected ones, the poor ones, the abandoned ones,  the barren women, and the ones who have been excluded, tortured, and kept outside, all summed up in Jesus himself.  Hard to deny when you think of it.”

We all need a place to stand.  This can be hard to find in the shifting sands of today’s confusing world with so many contradictions.   Often we don’t where we stand; we’re terribly uncertain.

Let’s take hold of the lever we call Jesus.  Then by using his leverage we move away those rocky obstacles (e.g., desire for power and wealth) and fall in love with God - and people, especially the little ones around the world.  Threats, shame and fear will fall away and our path for transformation will be cleared with our “biased” Bible as our bulldozer.    

Deacon David Pierce