Day 23. Meister Eckhart: True conversion
Monday, March 19, 2012
Comment (1)
Each day of Lent (minus Sundays) we'll bring you words of wisdom from spiritual guides.
23. Meister Eckhart: True conversion
Many people think that to show their sorrow for sin they must do extraordinary things such as fasting, walking barefoot, and the like. The best penitence, however, is to turn away completely from all that is not God and not divine, whether it be in yourself or some other person, place, or thing.
True repentance is approaching God in love and squarely facing up to what you have done. Choose your own way of doing this, and discover that the more you do it, the more real your repentance will become.
True conversion is like our Lord's Passion. The more you imitate it, the more your sins will fall away. (Adapted by Richard Chilson, C.S.P. in That You May Have Life: Let the Mystics Be Your Guide for Lent, Ave Maria Press)
Eckhart (1260 - 1328) was a German Dominican and one of the great Christian mystics.
Find spiritual advice for Lent from other guides in 40 days to a new you.
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True conversion
By Mark Dohle (not verified) on Tuesday, April 5, 2011I have the above to be true, just keep going and look to God.
"It is the ever deepening understanding of God’s love for us, God’s ‘yes’, that is constant in spite of our failures, that give us the courage to stand and face our inner demons knowing that no matter what inner room we enter, Christ is there waiting for us. This kind of experience allows us to have compassion on others, for though unique, we are all very much alike. Life in any kind of community can be an experience of joy, or a path that is fraught with suffering and isolation. For we learn that truly God’s love falls not only on the good but also those who are not. Or another analogy, “the Sun falls both on the thankful and the unthankful”. Slowly, we learn though our own struggle just how difficult it is and how our freedom grows slowly over the years and often even then in secret, in a place so deep that only God can see it. We are told not to judge, for in judging, we judge ourselves and imprison ourselves in a world filled with those that we look down upon and can easily have contempt and hatred towards.
In the end it is the acceptance that God’s love and our calling, whatever it is, is a gift that needs to be embraced. In that embracing if based on a true trust in God’s love and in a true love of ourselves, we become healers for those around us and not a source of pain or trouble for others. You can’t know what you want until you know yourself and in that process, die to all self hatred and contempt and learn to have compassion that is truly shown to us in Christ Jesus."
Peace
Mark
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