Friday, November 28, 2014
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Very Unofficial CDOS Blog Site
Greetings, Aloha, Ahlan, Bon Jour etc:
This is my old blog site. I am Rod McRae, CDOS. The powers that be wanted a blog for us CDOS clergy. No agreement could be reached on exactly how to proceed, so I have simply opened my Rod of the Desert blog to all CDOS clergy. There is a lot of old stuff on the blog, read at your peril :). There is even an Eastern Rite feminist version of the liturgy of St John Chrysostom. I hope you will reply to my entries, feel free to rake me over the coals but please, no foul language or I will cry. If I cry the keyboard will get wet and my computer will die.
I will begin by bringing you up to date on some of the missives I have sent to our leaders this past month.
ME: I do not attend any "church" and I have not "said mass" in years. That said, I have never been a more faith filled catholic than now. This has come through 70+ years of formation. I have been through "Theosis" I was a man and now I am God (thank you Athenasius). I will not go into detail. You can fill in the gaps with your own struggle.
Death to Self: My method of theosis is to liken the stages of growth to KUBLER-ROSS's five stages of dying. My many years as a hospice chaplain come in handy here.
1. As I became responsible for my response to God in my teens, I experienced the first stage of dying -DENIAL. I could never be God so why try?
2. Later, as I struggled with life, I experienced the second step -ANGER. I needed a God fix but it was not available for such as me. How unfair!
3. Still later, I experienced the third step- BARGAINING. In desperation I entered the seminary. I new by then, age 40, that I needed God so I sold myself into the slavery of the priesthood as a vowed religious.
4. I had no idea what I was in for and found myself surrounded by people worse off than I ever was. So I got married and dumped the "church" once again. This brought about the fourth step- DEPRESSION.
5. This step lasted fora long time even while I was ministering as a hospice chaplain but slowly the dawn came with the help of my "dying" patients. I now realize the breadth of my formation. I have surrendered my free will back to my creator. I am now free to become God. This is the fifth stage -ACCEPTANCE.
OK, so that's my journey to CDOS. I hope it did not bore you. Now comes my take on CDOS's mission through the five steps. If CDOS is to be alive in God it must be willing to minister to people in all stages of Death to Self. Demands made through perceived need for institutional self-preservation must give way to faith. We cannot buy or rent God. Recognizing these stages and refraining from judgment are basic. Encouragement to all is our call. I have suggested that some of us may be called to be a preaching fellowship. Not the revival image of castigation but the "Woman at the Well" cojournier. Let us walk with Joshua (Jesus to you Greek fans) as His body on earth. Paraphrasing the great prophet Mel Brooks, "Its A good thing being God."
That's it for today. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Happy T-Day to you all. I'll be back on Friday with another episode. All Blessings. Rod McRae
This is my old blog site. I am Rod McRae, CDOS. The powers that be wanted a blog for us CDOS clergy. No agreement could be reached on exactly how to proceed, so I have simply opened my Rod of the Desert blog to all CDOS clergy. There is a lot of old stuff on the blog, read at your peril :). There is even an Eastern Rite feminist version of the liturgy of St John Chrysostom. I hope you will reply to my entries, feel free to rake me over the coals but please, no foul language or I will cry. If I cry the keyboard will get wet and my computer will die.
I will begin by bringing you up to date on some of the missives I have sent to our leaders this past month.
ME: I do not attend any "church" and I have not "said mass" in years. That said, I have never been a more faith filled catholic than now. This has come through 70+ years of formation. I have been through "Theosis" I was a man and now I am God (thank you Athenasius). I will not go into detail. You can fill in the gaps with your own struggle.
Death to Self: My method of theosis is to liken the stages of growth to KUBLER-ROSS's five stages of dying. My many years as a hospice chaplain come in handy here.
1. As I became responsible for my response to God in my teens, I experienced the first stage of dying -DENIAL. I could never be God so why try?
2. Later, as I struggled with life, I experienced the second step -ANGER. I needed a God fix but it was not available for such as me. How unfair!
3. Still later, I experienced the third step- BARGAINING. In desperation I entered the seminary. I new by then, age 40, that I needed God so I sold myself into the slavery of the priesthood as a vowed religious.
4. I had no idea what I was in for and found myself surrounded by people worse off than I ever was. So I got married and dumped the "church" once again. This brought about the fourth step- DEPRESSION.
5. This step lasted fora long time even while I was ministering as a hospice chaplain but slowly the dawn came with the help of my "dying" patients. I now realize the breadth of my formation. I have surrendered my free will back to my creator. I am now free to become God. This is the fifth stage -ACCEPTANCE.
OK, so that's my journey to CDOS. I hope it did not bore you. Now comes my take on CDOS's mission through the five steps. If CDOS is to be alive in God it must be willing to minister to people in all stages of Death to Self. Demands made through perceived need for institutional self-preservation must give way to faith. We cannot buy or rent God. Recognizing these stages and refraining from judgment are basic. Encouragement to all is our call. I have suggested that some of us may be called to be a preaching fellowship. Not the revival image of castigation but the "Woman at the Well" cojournier. Let us walk with Joshua (Jesus to you Greek fans) as His body on earth. Paraphrasing the great prophet Mel Brooks, "Its A good thing being God."
That's it for today. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Happy T-Day to you all. I'll be back on Friday with another episode. All Blessings. Rod McRae
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