The Doorway to the Invisible World
it's this... not that
The visible world is an active doorway to the invisible world, and the invisible world is much larger than this visible world.
This is the basic tenet of Franciscan spirituality. This reframing saved my faith… and maybe even my life.
In my mid-30’s, like most of us do, my spiritual practices stopped working. Meaning… after living enough life (add in all the weird experiences of living), the practices of my beliefs stopped making sense in the life I was living. With a lot of reflection I realized it was because the spirituality I was given had removed my soul from my body, from this cosmos, and had put a greater emphasis on the soul than the body. It assumed the soul lasted longer, so it’s more important.
By doing this it threw the baby out with the bath water. It had failed to ask why the soul has appeared enmeshed in a body… and maybe that enmeshment was invaluable in understanding the soul. The faith tradition I inherited spent most of it’s time focused on what was after this life…. unintentionally revealing that it was uncomfortable with the complexities, absurdities, and mystery of the life it found itself in.
That’s why Jesus lays it out so simply:
Feed the hungry.
Give water to the thirsty.
Care for the sick.
Invite the stranger.
Clothe the naked.
Visit the prisoner.
This world, this enmeshment, is the doorway to a much larger world.
Be wary of any language that dismisses this reality. It is a path of destruction… destruction of people, the environment, and eventually the soul.
If you want to know the larger world beyond this one… it’s through this one.
Today, may you be awakened to your soulful participation.
“unintentionally revealing that it was uncomfortable with the complexities, absurdities, and mystery of the life it found itself in. ”
How this lives for me- and I needed to come out of denial of the pain and loss of my life and re-find Christ alive- even suffering with me - so I knew that TRUST in the Father and the Holy Spirit would bring me through-
In Him setting my mind free again I am given New Life in Love and purpose, totally alive in Grace.
Thank you dear soul for persevering and sharing the wonder of meekness.