Eric- I recently read this (again) in my go-to book, and it resonated more deeply than in the past. I think it addresses what you are saying here: "For Lao Tzu, non-action meant following the Tao, which itself follows the course of non-action. For followers of Christ the incarnate Tao, non-action is raised to a personal dimension called …
I recently read this (again) in my go-to book, and it resonated more deeply than in the past. I think it addresses what you are saying here:
"For Lao Tzu, non-action meant following the Tao, which itself follows the course of non-action. For followers of Christ the incarnate Tao, non-action is raised to a personal dimension called 'faith'."
and:
"In order to practice personal non-action (i.e., true faith) we must come before our Creator and Savior without any preconceived opinions. We must seek salvation on *His* terms and in *His* time, even if it requires that we endure *worse* suffering than we knew before! Having understood on an existential level that of ourselves we can do nothing at all, we cease trying, grasping, contriving--for 'to make is to mar, to grasp is to lose.' We merely acknowledge our sickness and our problem, bring it before our Savior the Tao/Logos, and blindly *trust* that He will save us in ways that only He knows. We do not expect Him to save us immediately and once-for-all-time, but rather we trust that He will *continually* save us--change us and perfect us--through his Uncreated Energy, as long as we continue to give our free will to Him and abandon ourselves to His will, which is the Way of the Universe."
--Christ the Eternal Tao
These passage have really changed how I think about faith, both as an idea and as a practical reality.
I have the wood stove going in the hermitage and it's been a bit foggy lately. I have been told it's not fog but clouds. It shouldn't be too cold today. Otherwise, all is well.
I hope the other side of the planet is treating you and yours well, also.
Following a short course I taught on Romans, I came to understand faith in this way considering Abraham ‘father of us all’
It’s uncomfortable and not helped by seeing others in a comfort zone re faith which seems to keep ‘it’ as it were much as one might have a lucky charm. It led us to this side of the world . . .
. . . where it continues unseasonably warm and dry
Eric-
I recently read this (again) in my go-to book, and it resonated more deeply than in the past. I think it addresses what you are saying here:
"For Lao Tzu, non-action meant following the Tao, which itself follows the course of non-action. For followers of Christ the incarnate Tao, non-action is raised to a personal dimension called 'faith'."
and:
"In order to practice personal non-action (i.e., true faith) we must come before our Creator and Savior without any preconceived opinions. We must seek salvation on *His* terms and in *His* time, even if it requires that we endure *worse* suffering than we knew before! Having understood on an existential level that of ourselves we can do nothing at all, we cease trying, grasping, contriving--for 'to make is to mar, to grasp is to lose.' We merely acknowledge our sickness and our problem, bring it before our Savior the Tao/Logos, and blindly *trust* that He will save us in ways that only He knows. We do not expect Him to save us immediately and once-for-all-time, but rather we trust that He will *continually* save us--change us and perfect us--through his Uncreated Energy, as long as we continue to give our free will to Him and abandon ourselves to His will, which is the Way of the Universe."
--Christ the Eternal Tao
These passage have really changed how I think about faith, both as an idea and as a practical reality.
I have the wood stove going in the hermitage and it's been a bit foggy lately. I have been told it's not fog but clouds. It shouldn't be too cold today. Otherwise, all is well.
I hope the other side of the planet is treating you and yours well, also.
-Jack
Oh, and something which came to me, resonating with a powerful piece I’ve just read by Philip Sherrard, we are doubly distracted in the Modern World
We complain about how we are distracted, but we are now distracted from what distracts us, having lost sight of The One to whom we should attend
It’s a frictionless system
And slightly more back on subject, faith as living only for the Well Done of the unseen one
Thank you, Jack
Funnily enough I only saw that book yesterday
I have a six day silent retreat ahead of me. . .
Yes, faith as ‘Abandonment to Divine Providence’
Following a short course I taught on Romans, I came to understand faith in this way considering Abraham ‘father of us all’
It’s uncomfortable and not helped by seeing others in a comfort zone re faith which seems to keep ‘it’ as it were much as one might have a lucky charm. It led us to this side of the world . . .
. . . where it continues unseasonably warm and dry
Mine and I am well
Thank you
- Eric