Tag: unity

• Examen of the Senses (Inclusive Version)

  In 2020, I posted to this blog an “Examen of the Senses” which I co-wrote with my wife Fran. We wrote it for use in our Catholic adult faith formation course, so the language in it was explicitly Christian. While we still love that original version, we’ve had occasion to use this Examen in more ecumenical and interfaith settings — most recently for a class I’m teaching for Unity Worldwide Ministry’s formation program for Spiritual Directors — so I’ve revised it slightly to give it more of a universal feel. Please click here for the Catholic version, or read on for the inclusive version. Either way, I hope this can be a blessing for you.

  Examen of the Senses
  by Carl and Fran McColman

  Let’s begin by settling into a comfortable position and closing your eyes. Take three deep, slow breaths to calm your thoughts and center yourself in the present moment, acknowledging the Spirit’s presence here with us — within you — now.

  God is love and we are one with God, which means we can and do find God in all things. Divine love permeates the world we live in. Let’s consider that sacred presence in our lives by reflecting on how we have encountered the Presence of Infinite Creative Love over the past 24 hours.

  Reflect on how the Divine has been present to you this day through the sense of Sight.

  Where has the Sacred met you in a visual way? Perhaps in luminous rays of sunlight, bursting through a cloud, slanting through the trees, or sparkling on the surface of water. Perhaps in the colorful array of a sunrise or sunset; in the playful dance of squirrels frolicking in your yard; in the sparkling eyes of someone you love.

  Notice how you manifest divine blessings in your life through Sight.

  <Pause>

  Reflect on how the Divine has been present to you this day through the sense of Sound.

  Where has the Sacred met you in an auditory way? Perhaps in the melodious laugh of a child, or the symphony of birdsong, or the soothing cadence of your spouse’s heartbeat; the familiar beat of a favorite song; the beckoning ringtone when someone special from afar calls, and their comforting voice when you respond.

  Notice how you manifest divine blessings in your life through Sound.

  <Pause>

  Reflect on how the Divine has been present to you this day through the sense of Smell.

  Where has the Sacred met you in an olfactory way? Perhaps in the rich aroma of your morning cup of coffee or tea; the fragrance of a favorite perfume or cologne; the appetizing smell of fresh basil or a baking apple pie. Perhaps in the evocative scent of freshly mown grass or the redolence of a library filled with old books.

  Notice how you manifest divine blessings in your life through Smell.

  <Pause>

  Reflect on how the Divine has been present to you this day through the sense of Taste.

  Where has the Sacred met you in a gustatory way? Perhaps in the delicious indulgence of a sweet juicy peach, the spicy heat of salsa, or the bitter shock of radishes on your salad. Perhaps the joy of warm buttered bread, cold velvety ice cream, or melt-in-your mouth brownies. Perhaps in the quenching coolness of water on a hot day.

  Notice how you manifest divine blessings in your life through Taste.

  <Pause>

  Reflect on how the Divine has been present to you this day through the sense of Touch.

  Where has the Sacred met you in a tactile way? Perhaps in the intimacy of a hug from a frend, the affectionate rub of your beloved cat or dog, the cleansing spray of a shower on your skin. Perhaps in the snuggling safety of a warm blanket, the weight of tools or workout equipment, the stability of the earth beneath your feet.

  Notice how you manifest divine blessings in your life through Touch.

  <Pause>

  As you reflect on your day, take time to offer thanksgiving for blessings in your day, however big or small they might be. Reflect also on how you have been invited to grow through healing, expanded conscious, and compassionate action.

  <Pause>

  In conclusion, pray for the day to come. Pray that you may continue to pay attention to all the blessings in your life, and that you in turn might be a blessing for others.

  Let’s finish with an adaptation of a classic Unity Prayer.

  We are now in the presence of pure Divine Being, immersed in the Holy Spirit of Life, Love, and Wisdom. We acknowledge your power and your presence within us, Holy Spirit. In your divine wisdom, transform all our seeming limitations into infinite possibilities, and through your love, manifest our joyful union with You, that our world may truly be a luminous expression of your grace and beauty. Amen.

  

  October 29, 2024

  Examen, Spiritual Direction, unity

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• Do We Lose Our Identity When We Become One with God?

  A reader named Allen writes…

  I have heard some mystics talk about when we die and are at a higher consciousness, we are all one and one with God. But from a Christian perspective don’t we retain our individuality and live in communion with God? Whatever that means.
  Isn’t God meant to remake everything? A new heaven and a new Earth.  I find the thought of losing my individual person and merging as a wave into the ocean, a frightening prospect. This nondual stuff can be quite confusing.

  Thanks, Allen. You’re asking a question that I imagine many people interested in mystical Christianity might wonder about.

  Meister Eckhart, the great German mystic, is famous for saying “The eye with which I see God is exactly the same eye with which God sees me. My eye and God’s eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowledge and one love.” On the surface, that sure sounds like a complete merging of identity, doesn’t it? And there are some Biblical passages that also seem to point to this same kind of mystical unity:

  Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. — I Corinthians 6:17

  He has given us… his precious and very great promises, so that through them you… may become participants of the divine nature — II Peter 1:4

  In Him we live and move and have our being. — Acts 17:28

  And as far as us all being “one and one with God” — well, Jesus himself seems to say as much in the Gospel of John:

  I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. — John 17:20-21

  Jesus is praying for this divine/human union — but if we believe that Jesus is himself the second person of the Trinity, we may assume that he would not be praying for this if it were somehow inconsistent with God’s will. In other words, he seems to be praying this prayer more for our benefit than for God’s!

  So, what are we to believe? With all this language of unity, is this suggesting that Christianity is about “losing my individual person and merging as a wave into the ocean” as Allen puts it?

  For what it’s worth, I’m not persuaded that this is what the Christian mystics are saying.

  So much of the language of the New Testament, and of so many of the mystics (at least in the Christian tradition), is language of love. God is love (or as I like to say, “Love-with-a-capital-L”). We love because God first loved us. God’s love is poured into our hearts. St. Paul prays “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love” and that we may “know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (I John 4, Romans 5:5, Ephesians 3:17, 19).

  Here’s the question. If our destiny is to become merged with God in some sort of egoless absorption, where is the room for love?

  Love, by its very nature, is relational. The reason why God is a Trinity is because there are three essential elements of love: the lover, the beloved, and the love that flows between them.

  

  I am not a philosopher and I’m only an amateur theologian, so I cannot claim to fully understand the language of union, abiding, participation, and so forth in the Bible (and the writings of the mystics) that describe the kind of unity that seems to be our ultimate destiny. But I don’t find it frightening (as Allen so vulnerably admitted), simply because I trust that whatever “union with God” means, it will entail love. And love ultimately implies some sort of distinction between the lover and the beloved.

  There may be others who see things the opposite way from Allen: who think that anything less than pure egoless absorption into the Divine Unity is what they find terrifying. I know in human relationships, there are two fundamental fears: the fear of engulfment, and the fear of abandonment (and isn’t it interesting how in so many relationships, one partner fears abandonment and the other engulfment?). I imagine those who fear engulfment would, like Allen, find the language of unity and absorption terrifying. And those who fear abandonment probably find any idea that we won’t by absorbed into God equally horrifying.

  As for me, I freely admit I have no idea what our destiny in eternity ultimately looks like, but I trust that God is love and that whatever transpires it will be an encounter with ultimate Love-with-a-capital-L. And I’m willing to trust that and to be surprised when I finally get there.

  But I assume — or imagine — that it will be something that we just can’t describe in human thought and language. That we will be both completely one with God, and in a relationship with God that implies the persistence of the Creator/creature distinction. Don’t ask me to explain it beyond that. But I think whatever it is, it will be the highest possible consummation of love.

  Allen, I assume that many of the mystics — not just in the Christian tradition, but in other paths as well — use language of nonduality, absorption, participation, etc. because it does point us to a truth that ultimately can’t be put into words anyway. So anything that anyone says about this will fail to capture the reality in its fullness. I’m sorry that you find it frightening. Perhaps that is something worth praying about? Holding your heart and mind in the presence of the Divine Lover who only wants what’s best for you? Perhaps your fear is a little bit of the awe human beings naturally feel when faced with God, the kind of existential “fear” that according to the Bible is “the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10). But let’s never forget that “perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4:18). In other words, fear may be the beginning of wisdom, but only love is the true end of wisdom. Whenever we human beings are fearful, God — Love-with-a-capital-L — is the ultimate and true remedy for that fear.

  One more thing before I wrap this up. Allen ruefully notes, “This nondual stuff can be quite confusing.” I hear you. “Nondual” is, once again, a philosophical term that I believe gets kind of fuzzy and squishy in the hands of many spiritual writers. If you’d like to explore it in depth, the best treatment I’ve read (by a Christian author) on the subject of nonduality is by Cynthia Bourgeault, in her book The Heart of Centering Prayer: Nondual Christianity in Theory and Practice. See especially part 2, chapter 1. If you haven’t read it, do so.

  January 28, 2021

  Heaven, nonduality, union with God, unitive life, unity

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