The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
THE SIXTY SECOND CATHOLIC: Looking at Reality with Three Universes
You may, or may not, have heard of the book, The One Minutes Manager by Ken Blanchard. It was popular in my day, but, like all fads, it vanished. I thought of it once again as I was trying to come up with a condensed version of some ideas raised in my Lectio Divina meditations (Phil 2:5). I thought of my own spiritual attention span, probably somewhere between fifteen seconds and ten minutes at my optimum. The spiritual attention span is important because it is the rate at which we can focus on things spiritual. I have an attention span as part of my secular existence, but it lasts 5 or 6 seconds.
I am writing about themes with a sixty-second read. You read it and may get thoughts about the subject. You may agree or disagree with these opinions. Your choice. My choice is to make them as they come to me in my Lectio Divina meditations.These are my thoughts and don’t reflect any Cistercian or Lay Cistercian official opinions.
This blog is a continuation of the Series which I have entitled The Sixty Second Catholic. Three universes provides me with a way that I can understand everything, and more importantly, how it all fits together.
LOOKING AT GOD USING WITH THREE UNIVERSES
Physical Universe — The Realm of Creation.
John 1:1 begins with the Word. The Word created all that is.
This description of how reality began did not come a scientist, but a poet and storyteller.
All that is is the physical universe, time, energy, space, matter, atomic structure, gases, interaction of elements together.
Time allows matter the capability to forge what is into what will be as the result of the Word.
The Father is the Master of Creation.
Mental Universe — The Realm of Fulfillment
The Word was made flesh and now dwells among us. John 1:14.
The Son is the Master to Make All Things New
The Mind gives us the ability to use of human attributes to discover the physical universe.
The Mind allows me to discover meaning for my life. It opens me up to the meaning of love.
The mind and the heart allows us to approach the Mystery of Faith with Faith.
Spiritual Universe – The Realm of the Spirit
The Mind allows us to discover the Spiritual Universe, Faith, Hope, Love. Faith allows us to see what is invisible, to approach what we know is but just can’t comprehend with the senses and mere reason.
Jesus tells us to love each other as He has loved us.
We think forward not backward in this universe.
There is one universe with three distinct realities, each one helping the next to love with our whole heart, our whole mind, and our soul and our neighbor as ourself (Deuteronomy 6 and Matthew 22:37)
WHO IS GOD?
God is.
God is love.
God is one with three distinct persons.
We are adopted sons and daughters of this God, if we so choose.
The Church Universal helps us to love each other as Jesus loved us.
God is like the television show, Jeopardy. God has the answer but it is up to you to ask the question.
THE QUESTION IS, WHO ARE YOU?
God wants us to live with Him…Forever. Jesus helps us to pack for the journey. The Holy Spirit allows us to approach this Mystery of Faith with frying our neural pathways. You ready?
Scriptures are love letters from God to us. Do you read them?
You won’t fulfill your destiny as a human with just two universes. Are you your own god?
That in all things, God is glorified. –St. Benedict
The Center for contemplative practice 