If God is Trinity and Jesus is the face of God, then it is a benevolent universe. God is not someone to be afraid of, but is the Ground of Being and on our side.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that a benevolent understanding of God shapes our view of the universe positively, emphasizing God's supportive nature.
Richard Rohr's quote presents a theological perspective that views God as a loving, supportive force rather than a being to fear. By identifying God as the Trinity and Jesus as the 'face of God,' Rohr emphasizes a relational understanding of divinity that invites humanity to see the universe as fundamentally benevolent, rooted in the idea of God being the 'Ground of Being' which provides support and love rather than fear and distance.
In practice
In a sermon about acceptance and love in faith.
My scientist friends have come up with things like 'principles of uncertainty' and dark holes. They're willing to live inside imagined hypotheses and theories. But many religious folks insist on answers that are always true. We love closure, resolution and clarity, while thinking that we are people of 'faith'! How strange that the very word 'faith' has come to mean its exact opposite.
The gift of darkness draws you to know God’s presence beyond what thought, imagination, or sensory feeling can comprehend.
I cannot illustrate huge differences between male and female spiritualities except in their starting points, style and fascinations along the way. This is significant, however, and has huge pastoral implications: men must be challenged in the world of doing; women must be challenged in the world of relating.
Much of the Christian religion has largely become “holding on” instead of letting go. But God, it seems to me, does the holding on (to us!), and we must learn the letting go (of everything else).
We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.
I've had the good fortune of teaching and preaching across much of the globe, while also struggling to make sense of my experience in my own tiny world.
the better angels of our nature
I'm Gentleman Death in silk and lace, come to put out the candles. The canker in the heart of the rose.
The idea that we have the right to inflict suffering and death on other sentient beings for the trivial reasons of palate pleasure and fashion is, without doubt, one of the most arrogant and morally repugnant notions in the history of human thought.
When my father was born, it was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. When I was born, it was Lithuania. When I left, it was Hungary. It is difficult to say where I come from.
We attacked a foreign people and treated them like rebels. As you know, it's all right to treat barbarians barbarically. It's the desire to be barbaric that makes governments call their enemies barbarians.
The louder our world today is, the deeper God seems to remain in silence. Silence is the language of eternity; noise passes.
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