How baffling you are, oh Church

How baffling you are, oh Church, and yet how I love you! 
How you have made me suffer, and yet how much I owe you! 
I would like to see you destroyed, and yet I need your presence. 
You have given me so much scandal and yet you have made me understand what sanctity is. 
I have seen nothing in the world more devoted to obscurity, more compromised, more false, and yet I have touched nothing more pure, more generous, more beautiful. 
How often I have wanted to shut the doors of my soul in your face, and how often I have prayed to die in the safety of your arms. 


No, I cannot free myself from you, because I am you, though not completely. 
And besides, where would I go? Would I establish another? 
I would not be able to establish it without the same faults,
for they are the same faults I carry in me. 
And if I did establish another, it would be my Church, not the Church of Christ. 
I am old enough to know that I am no better than anyone else.


From Carlo Carretto, The God Who Comes

THE SHINING WORD "AND"

THE SHINING WORD "AND"

"And" teaches us to say yes
"And" allows us to be both-and
"And" keeps us from either-or
"And" teaches us to be patient and long-suffering
"And" is willing to wait for insight and integration
"And" keeps us from dualistic thinking
"And" does not divide the field of the moment
"And" helps us to live in the always imperfect now
"And" keeps us inclusive and compassionate toward everything
"And" demands that our contemplation become action
"And" insists that our action is also contemplative
"And" heals our racism, sexism, heterosexism, and classism
"And" keeps us from the false choice of liberal or conservative
"And" allows us to critique both sides of things
"And" allows us to enjoy both sides of things
"And" is far beyond anyone nation or political party
"And" helps us face and accept our own dark side
"And" allows us to ask for forgiveness and to apologize
"And" is the mystery of paradox in all things
"And" is the way of mercy
"And" makes daily, practical love possible
"And" does not trust love if it is not also justice
"And" does not trust justice if it is not also love
"And" is far beyond my religion versus your religion
"And" allows us to be both distinct and yet united
"And" is the very Mystery of Trinity

From: Richard Rohr, The Naked Now