Love Matters are wisdom words from Fr. Thomas Keating spoken during the filming of the new series God is Love: The Heart of All Creation. Some are included in the series; others are from footage published here for the first time. A new word will be posted every Monday throughout the year. May they serve to inspire hope and lift your heart.
English Transcript
I admire the patience and the skill which God gradually [uses] without blowing you away or undermining you in such a way that you give up all religion, as happens to some people. I've desperately tried to understand other religions in terms of the Christian religion. As time goes by, I felt more and more comfortable with seeing that it's not doctrine that is the problem, but the level of consciousness with which people interpret the doctrine, which can be very narrow and limiting and thus distort its purpose.
So, as one's mind is clarified, one can see the spiritual meaning of texts that was completely inaccessible when we relied on our rational judgment alone without the experience of private prayer and silence which relativizes our convictions in some degree - doesn't take them away. What it takes away is the elitism or attachment to the certitude of being right. It's a liberating, freeing process and I think can go on much more into the future.
La apertura liberadora a las verdades espirituales.
Admiro la paciencia y la habilidad que gradualmente usa Dios para no confundirnos completamente o debilitarnos de tal forma que renunciemos a toda religión, como les sucede a algunas personas. He tratado desesperadamente de comprender otras religiones en términos de la religión cristiana. A medida que pasa el tiempo, me siento cada vez más cómodo con la idea de que no es la doctrina lo que presenta problemas, sino el nivel de conciencia con la que las personas la interpretan, que puede ser muy estrecho y limitado, y por lo tanto distorsionar su propósito.
Cuando nuestra mente se aclara, podemos comprender el sentido espiritual de textos que nos eran completamente inaccesibles cuando confiábamos solamente en nuestro juicio racional, sin la experiencia de la oración en privado y del silencio, las que en alguna medida relativizan nuestras convicciones sin eliminarlas. Lo que se elimina es el elitismo o el apego a cierta certidumbre de estar en lo correcto. Es un proceso liberador, y creo que puede continuar aún más en el futuro.
