…enter the communion of God’s own personal life -in- relation.
John Zizioulas
Truth is that indestructible life that is open to us when we cease to live as private and self-determining individuals and enter the communion of God’s own personal life-in-relation.
John Zizioulas
Image: Christopher Holt, Haywood Street fresco (detail)
Learning to live with our egos differently is the human project. It is not about making something of ourselves so much as letting go of our need to be someone, autonomous and independent, and discovering the ‘hidden wholeness’ or communion which is our true home. Becoming who we are is a good way to describe not just the waking up which is necessary but the choosing of life – in – relation.
Where are you being challenged and invited to stop living as a private and self-determining individual?
What are you afraid of?
How attractive is this new way of being in the world?
What happens if you insulate yourself from the give and take of relationships?
Explore the truth and the freedom on offer.
Image: Christopher Holt, Haywood Street Beatitudes, 2018-2019
[The human person] is alienated if he refuses to transcend himself and to live the experience of self-giving and the formation of an authentic community oriented towards his final destiny, which is God.
John Paul II
The images in this post are of the Haywood Street Beatitudes, a mural designed by Christopher Holt and executed with a collaborative team.
The Haywood Street Beatitudes fresco was completed last year in the sanctuary of Haywood Street Congregation in Asheville, part of whose mission is “breaking down barriers that divide the ‘haves’ from the ‘have-nots’ and reminding each person of their worth, their goodness.” Source: Art and Theology, The Beatitudes
For a printable PDF of the text of this meditation please click on the link below.
