Home > Work > Adam's Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation
1 " The way to transmute the pain of life is to reveal the wounded side of things, evil, even, and then place the wound inside of sacred space. The Bible is about naming, facing, and then forgiving the wounds of history. "
― Richard Rohr , Adam's Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation
2 " All great spirituality is about what we do with our pain. "
3 " Pain and suffering that are not transformed are usually projected onto others. "
4 " True baptism allows us to reframe, and contain, the reality of evil, without needing to blame anyone else, without any need for shame or vengeance. We are all in this together, and our common wound shows itself in different ways. "
5 " You can unlock spiritual things only from within. "
6 " Our wounds are the only thing humbling enough to break our attachment to our false self. "
7 " We do not handle suffering. Suffering handles us. "
8 " Final authority in the spiritual world does not tend to come from any kind of agenda success but from some kind of suffering. Insecurity and impermanence are the best spiritual teachers. "
9 " Jesus was trying to present value of a life of vulnerability in which one would have practical and needed experience of the same. It would be a life without baggage, so one would learn to accept others and their culture instead of always carrying along our own country's assumptions and calling them the Gospel. "
10 " True masters deconstruct as well as reconstruct. "
11 " Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment instead. It is such a willingness to live with bewilderment that characterizes the true wise man. "
12 " Ability to laugh at evil, to relativize symbols without dismissing them is usually a sign of a rather healthy person. Puritans and reformers can never laugh. "
13 " Right words make all of us feel falsely important. Right action keeps all of us forever beginners. "
14 " I hope we can inaugurate a new humility in our use of religious language, which for me is the very proof that it is authentic. "
15 " True spirituality is not taught, it's caught. Once our sails have been unfurled to the Spirit, henceforth our motivation for the journey toward holiness and wholeness is immense gratitude. "
16 " With improved historical records, and easier access to them, we actually have better reasons for hating one another, for anger and violence toward one another. "
17 " If we know our original blessing, we can easily handle our original sin. If we rest in a previous dignity, we can bear insults effortlessly. If you really know your name is on some eternal list, you can let go of the irritations on the small lists of time. Ultimate security allows you to suffer small insecurity without tremendous effort. If you are tethered at some center point, it is amazing how far out you can fly and not get lost. "
18 " Men need men to keep their edges hot and clean, whereas women keep us warm and soft. "
19 " You know after any truly initiating experience that you are part of a much bigger whole. Life is not about you henceforward, but you are about life. "
20 " You cannot contain evil by shaming it, or making people feel guilty, but only by revealing it toward it is, and then seeing the good as better. "
