You Are About Life

"Before a unitive encounter with God or creation, almost all people will substitute the part for the whole and take their little part far too seriously—both in its greatness and in its badness. But after any true God experience, you know that you are a part of a much bigger whole. Life is not about you; you are about life. You are an instance of a universal and even eternal pattern. Life is living itself in you. It is an earthquake in the brain, a hurricane in the heart, a Copernican revolution of the mind, and a monumental shift in consciousness. "
- Richard Rohr, Adapted from Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation, pp. 60-61;

and Things Hidden: Scripture As Spirituality, p 51

Providence dropped this email in my box yesterday morning, and it lifted a weight off my shoulders. As Rohr says, I tend to 'take my little part far too seriously,' and in most cases this leads to guilt and feelings of unworthiness. I feel a 'lightness of being' when I stop and feel life move through me rather than dive inside my head to think about all the ways in which I measure up or fail to do so. Life moves through me when the kids and I fall down laughing over the cat chasing a laser pointer, or when one of my new swimmers comes up to me at church to introduce me to her father ("this is my swim coach, dad"). The same spirit flows when a detainee hands me a poem for his homework assignment, describing a lone wolf howling in the time of the full moon. It's joyous to participate in the intricate dance of all things, to feel a part of life and to reach out for the whole instead of circling around and focusing on, my one small piece.