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Coping with Complexity
Holiness and wholeness are, ultimately, the same thing. To be holy is to be whole. That shouldn’t surprise us, grace builds on nature. What’s problematic is achieving wholeness. Why? Because
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From Self-Protection to Being Food for the Life of the World
Recently I heard an interview on the radio with a bishop from a large American diocese. At one point he was asked: “As the leader of a large diocese today,
https://ronrolheiser.com/from-self-protection-to-being-food-for-the-life-of-the-world/
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The Width of Our Ecclesial Embrace
Nikos Kazantsakis once said “the bosom of God is not a ghetto, but our hearts often are.” So too, sadly, are our ecclesiologies. In church circles today, both liberal and
https://ronrolheiser.com/the-width-of-our-ecclesial-embrace/
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Spirituality and the Second Half of Life
When Nikos Kazantsakis was a young man he interviewed an old monk on Mount Athos. At one stage he asked him: “Do you still struggle with the devil?” “No,” the
https://ronrolheiser.com/spirituality-and-the-second-half-of-life/
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The Abuse Scandal as a Dark Night of the Soul
For the church in the Western World, particularly in the United States, the recent sexual abuse scandal is probably the biggest crisis we’ve yet faced, though it’s not so much
https://ronrolheiser.com/the-abuse-scandal-as-a-dark-night-of-the-soul/
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Gospel Challenge
The gospels point out that, before his conversion, Zacchaeus was a short man, someone lacking in height, but that, after his conversion, the tall man gave back what the small
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True and False Notions of Freedom
C.S. Lewis tells the story of his conversion in a little autobiographical piece entitled, Surprised by Joy. His journey has some things to teach us. For years he was blocked
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Our Misconceptions about Suicide
Margaret Atwood once wrote that sometimes things need to be said, and said, and said, until they don’t need to be said any more. Each year I write a column
https://ronrolheiser.com/our-misconceptions-about-suicide-2/
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Our Struggle with Envy
Why do we struggle with the things we struggle with? What explains us to ourselves? The Bible begins with a series of stories that try to give reasons for the
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Reading the Signs of the Times
There’s a story told about Anna Akhmatova, a Russian poet, who used to go each Saturday morning and stand in lines outside a prison in St. Petersburg where she, along